FateNuclear
by Shaneman17
Summary: The world was burned. Now nothing but a charred skeleton of what it one was. Yet the dead still have their secrets.War is coming, one that has the capacity to finally heal the wounds of the world and mankind or to push them over the brink. Yet in the end it all falls to a single wastelander who has walked the roads of the old world only to create a new one.
1. Tired Soul

**So the Fate/ anime and manga's are a thing and I may have seen a bit but I'm no expert on the nasuverse. That being said, one of the things I always liked was the idea of a fallout character getting introduced would be fun. The ones I have seen however have been less than…ideal. Never though for I have come, though things will be different. First off Nasuverse and Falloutverse are one in the same.**

 **Then we have the Holy grail wars ending after the fourth one due to the corruption of the grail taking a while to purge so it took centuries for the grail to comeback, delaying the fifth war for a few centuries. Also Gilgamesh died like a bitch because screw him, let's say he got a super case of laxative poisoning as a prank from Rider he set up before Gil killed him. Yeah, let's say he literally crapped his guts out and he died. Golden prick.**

 **Shirou grew up normally and still made friends with Sakura and Rin, learned about magic, stabbed shinji after learning how horrible he was, saving Sakura from worm grandpa, befriending Ilya and finding a way to kill the super pedophile and evil priest, and happily ever after. Also he gets a magic harem because you know, reasons.**

 **Point is it doesn't matter what happened back then because now it's the wasteland, magus are in hiding and still useless, oh and now there are monsters roaming around that are just as dangerous as the ones from the age of the gods. Let's see what happens now.**

 **…**

 **Chapter 1: Tired Soul**

It was a familiar smell that that assaulted my nose. Burnt ozone, melted flesh, gun powder, piss and shit all mixing together into an ungodly aroma. It smelled like death.

The entire place was filled with corpses. Old or young, man or woman, it didn't matter in the end as they all met the reaper eventually. The battlefield was littered with weapons from simple metal pipes to the advanced Gatling laser though now they all lay useless without a hand to wield them.

"Boss."

What was this place called again? I couldn't remember. Just another skeleton of civilization now filled with even more skeletons. Why was I here again? They had attacked me right? I wouldn't have slaughtered them all if the hadn-no no that's not right. They had attacked the settlers, the raiders had attacked my subjects and I retaliated. Huh, subjects. What was I some king or emperor of old who ruled over the masses? Funny, that was a pretty accurate statement though the term warlord would probably be a more apt description for me.

"Boss."

I heard a gasp of pain and I looked down to see the body I had just stepped on squirm. It was a blonde haired boy no older than eighteen wearing leather armor. His right hand was a ruined meaty mess that was barely more than a stump and I idly wondered how a kid like him wound up running with a bunch of up jumped raiders. He was clearly suffering and I idly wondered if he would get the hint that a raiders life was an vile one full of suffering and pain. I was about to walk away and spare the young man's life, that was until I saw his necklace.

"Boss!"

It was a simple design of old string wrapped around his neck, but the real decoration was the severed ears that lined the thing. Some were old enough to rot and decay while others were much more fresh. Trophies. With all thoughts of mercy gone, I lifted up my pistol, an old and weathered ten millimeter, and pulled the trigger.

"Hey James!"

Jumping in my seat I nearly pulled my gun and shot the disgustingly decayed face that was looking into mine.

"Damn it Raul, don't startle me like that." I said rubbing my eyes. Glancing around I saw that I was no longer surrounded by the dead in the middle of some ruined city, now I was sitting at a table in the Lucky 38's cocktail lounge. Looking down I saw it had finished my drink, the unholy mix of absinthe and Nuka Cola Quantum.

"Well its not too hard to do when you just sit there daydreaming, probably about the senoritas again aye?" The ghoul said sending me a amused smirk. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at his suggestion.

"Get your mind out of the gutter you perverted old zombie."

"Ha! Just because I don't use my parts doesn't mean you shouldn't use yours. You're a young man Boss, sure that walking carcass you call a body is worn goods, but I'm sure a chica would be willing to go for a ride. Honestly, learn to enjoy life a little."

I sighed a little at the statement. "I would if something good ever happened."

Raul frowned at my words and shot be a look. "Uh boss, what do you call all this? Six years ago and this place was a tomb. Now?" He said motioning toward the rest of the room.

Looking around I saw all the people conversing, laughing and drinking. Human or ghoul, rich or poor, they were all welcome here since I had done away with House's restrictions against the less wealthy entering the strip. After coming up with several programs to help fix up the areas outside of the strip and improving the people's way of life I had deemed it possible for them to enter the strip so long as they didn't cause trouble. Every one of them was dressed in a beautiful gown or sharp looking suit. I honestly felt out of place in my dirty white dress shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbows, worn jeans, old combat boots and a piece of priceless technology on my left forearm.

"Yeah this is good and all but it's temporary. I want something good that will last the centuries and in the end will actually help us rebuild and remake the world!" I said glancing out the window at the night sky only to see head of messy brown hair and intense green eyes looking back at me. "No matter what I do, what miracle of technology I create, no matter how big my empire gets or how successful, it will only last so long before we piss it all away with another war. I just want for us to finally learn from our mistakes. And I'm… I'm tired Raul. I hate watching us all tear ourselves apart and squabble over the scraps of the old world. I just want us all to learn that all this hate and killing only brings us ever closer to the edge. We were lucky with the great war, lucky we still had enough people surviving to start rebuilding. I'm just tired of the fighting and I just want us all to stop."

When I finished my rant, feeling far more exhausted than I should have. It felt like I had just poured out my soul and honestly, it felt good to get it off my chest. I had been having these thoughts for a while. It had all started one day when I made the mistake of looking at the stats section on my pipboy. I had always known my body count would be high, but never would I have thought it would have reached six digits. A revelation like that could do a lot to a man's psyche.

Raul just sat there slack jawed momentarily not knowing what to say. "Wow Boss. That was uh…quite the speech. What's got you so worked up lately? It got something to do with your new tattoos or something?"

I grumbled at that and glanced at my right hand. On it was a series of red markings forming two triangles pointing at each other with two lines to either side sweeping upwards. If you squinted at it, it faintly resembled an ornate hourglass with a pair of wings.

It honestly baffled me on how I got the damn thing. A week ago I have the rare chance of sleeping on a real bed rather than some make shift cot and the next morning I wake up with new body ink. I had gone to doctor Usanagi and Julia Farkas and neither one of them could see anything strange about it. My personal medical equipment couldn't find out anything about the markings other than it wasn't a tattoo but more like a strange skin pigmentation. Even the Think Tank were stumped other than discovering a strange but faint energy signature coming from the thing. It had taken promising several favors, threats and pulling a gun on the brains to stop them from attempting to sever the hand and study it 'FOR SCIENCE!' as they put it. What ever the thing was it was pissing me off to no end.

"No, and I still don't know a damn thing about them but no. I've just been thinking about what I'm going to do when all is said and done. I mean I'm not going to be around forever and I'm just hoping that what I'm going to be leaving behind will be worth all this senseless fighting and bloodshed. I guess I just want future generations look back and say 'Yeah That New World Empire really turned things around for the rest of the world and changed the course of history'. You know, nothing to big." I said sardonically.

Raul looked at me before shaking his head and taking off his vaquero hat. Setting it down he picked up a bottle of whiskey nearby and taking a swig before looking me dead in the eyes.

"Look James, I'm an old man. Two hundred years and I've seen a lot, I mean a LOT in my time, most of the weirdest stuff while traveling with you of course. I've seen the worst and best in people yet from the moment I met you I knew that you were different, knew that you were special. Still an idiota but special. Following you around the Mojave I saw you do things I wouldn't believe even if I were as drunk as Cass, yet it happened and after hearing the stories of your time in D.C. I was more than ready to believe you even when you said you were going to start your own nation." Raul said smiling and holding back chuckles. "Now here we are six years later and your little city state has turned into an empire spanning an entire continent. Hell you even took a year off to go wandering around the Commonwealth and singlehandedly established a foothold on the East coast. No matter what happens, history is most certainly going to remember you Boss, because you gave this rotten, broken and screwed-up world something it sorely needed. You gave us hope for a better tomorrow." He finished with a smile. Not a grim or sarcastic one but a genuinely happy smile.

I just sat there listening to the ghoul try to reassure me. Was he right? It had been a living nightmare to get to where I am today but I knew I had bettered my own piece of the world greatly. Would that alone really change the course of history?

Thinking about it some more, a smile spread across my face and I burst out into chuckles. "Hahaha! I guess you're right old man. Thanks for cheering me up I needed that. Now if you'll excuse me I need some air, all the booze is really starting to kick in."

"Yeah yeah have a good night Boss." He said taking another drink of whiskey.

Getting up I stumbled a little before steadying myself and making my way towards the elevator.

Pushing the down button I leaned against the cold metal and letting it reinvigorate my senses before the doors opened to reveal the bustling casino. The Lucky 38 had opened its doors to the public a few months after I took over New Vegas. Of course the security around the restricted sections had been tightened even further and there was now several dozen turrets and securitrons lying in wait.

Walking through the lobby I waved back and gave quick greeting to several customers recognized me before exiting. The Strip had grown as well as instead of the three big casinos and Vault 21, the three casinos had turned into six. Now there was The Palace run by The Kings, the new and improved Atomic Wrangler and finally Powder Keg owned and operated by the Gun Runners. Though the last one was less a casino and more a massive armory and firing range with gambling on the side. Obviously no drinking was allowed on the premises.

Heading to my right past the gates I made my way into Freeside. This place was looking better than ever now. Buildings were refurbished, rebuilt and fixed up. The vast majority of the people living here were still more on the poorer side but at least now there weren't junkies, homeless and cutthroats around every corner. Crime was still somewhat high but nowhere near as bad as it had been. Honestly I was impressed how far the place had come in six years, let alone what had happened in the last ten.

That last thought gave me pause and made me stumble briefly.

God had it really been ten years since I stepped out of the Vault?

Ten years since I stepped out of Vault One-O-One in the DC Wasteland chasing my runaway father. Ten years since I was forced to beat my first enemy to death with my old baseball bat. I had stepped out into the scorched hell hole that was once America's capitol. Following his trail I did everything I could to help the people I met on my journey as well as putting down what ever monstrosity or black hearted bastard got in my way. Eventually finding my dad forced me to delve into a virtual simulation run by a psychopathic scientist who was a god in that fake world. Escaping that nightmare led my father and I to finishing his life's work, Project Purity. A machine capable of purifying the Potomac River, both giving everyone access to vast amounts of free clean drinking water and restarting the ecosystem at the same time. The preparations to start it up would take time so I was free to do what I wanted until it was ready to be activated.

It was just my luck I ran into a group of Brotherhood Outcasts trying to get access to old world tech just after. Deciding to help them along with the promise of good loot, I dove into a virtual training program to unlock the door to the cache. Unfortunately the program was not only able to make me feel actual pain and could kill me, it was set to send me into the middle of the Battle of Anchorage, the most vicious and bloody battle in the war between China and America. Luckily I survived, but exiting the program it seems that half of the Outcasts didn't like depending on an outsider for help and promptly turned on me as well as the least murderous members of the group. They didn't live long enough to regret that decision.

Of course it wasn't to long before I was caught up in another 'adventure'. This time taking me to a place called the Pitt and to free the oppressed people of a growing slave empire. The place deserved the name and looked like it was plucked straight from the depths of hell itself. Disguised as a slave I worked my way up the power chain before stealing the 'cure' to the mutations of the Pitt and leading a slave revolt. Even now the place was still a nightmare even if the people there had managed to scrape out a living.

Heading back to my dad, we were about to get the purifier started when a group called the Enclave showed up. They were armed to the teeth and more armored than a tank with training to put all other threats I had meet to shame. They attacked us and dad…he died because of them. I turned to the local chapter of the Brotherhood Of Steel for help. Together we fought back against the Enclave and eventually retook the purifier, but to save everyone I activated it at the cost of my own life.

Or so I thought.

The radiation didn't kill me like I thought it would and woke up out of a coma two weeks later. Feeling as good as it could be I went back to what I was doing and finally put the Enclave down for good. Exploring on my own I eventually made my way to Point Lookout, a town way down south on what I thought was a well deserved vacation. Of course it turned out the place was an irritated swampland that was just as hellish as the Pitt in its own way. After exploring that hell hole I went back home and surprise surprise, I stumbled into another mess.

I can honestly say I never expected to be abducted by aliens, lead a band of fighters from throughout history against the little green bastards and eventually taking over the ship as my own. That was a hell of a week.

When it all was said and done, there was nothing left for me to do. My friends were either dead, abandoned me or busy trying to live their own life. I didn't blame them, I was tired of that kind of life myself. So I headed west and took up the job as a courier for four years. It was a good job and I enjoyed it, I even continued to help people everywhere I went. It was all going good until the delivery to transport the Platinum chip in the Mojave wasteland. Drugged, dragged into a cemetery, shot twice in the head and buried in a shallow grave. Not my best day.

Again somehow I survived.

I got up, dealt with the local gang and tried to track down my would-be killers. Along the way I ran into the local factions. The NCR, a government based out of California that were trying to rebuild America, even if they were incompetent and politically corrupt but they meant well. Then there was Caesar's Legion, a group of Roman wannabes who raped, murdered and pillaged their way into becoming the biggest military force on the continent, the only thing holding them back was their disdain for technology. Then there was Mr. House, owner of New Vegas and prewar business genius who had his own robot army. There I was caught in the middle.

Along the way I got trapped in a hellish casino filled with ghost people, poisonous red fog and killer holograms while I had a bomb strapped to my neck. God I hated that place. Then I got trapped in Zion park with tribal societies and met the mythical burned man. Then I got trapped _again,_ this time in the Big Mountain Research Facility where I had my spine, heart, and brain stolen by mad scientists and had to fight through scientific monstrosities to get them back. And finally I got a call from a place called the Divide, yet _another_ hell hole filled with deathclaws, tunnelers, mutants with their skin flayed off by the constant sandstorms that covered the area and scattered nuclear warheads all over the place. And the best part? I was the bastard who accidentally created that slice of hell during my time as a courier.

Returning to Vegas I had had enough of the war in the Mojave I took over New Vegas by taking House's place, taking control of his robot army and kicked bother the Legion and NCR out of the region. Yet at the end of the battle I fought against the monster of the east, Legate Lanius himself. At first I had thought it all talk and exaggeration, the big bad Legate who terrified everyone including his own men and could cleave armored Ranger in half with a swing of his sword. I didn't believe when I stood in front of the seven foot tall armored giant since I had killed much bigger and I still didn't believe it when he threatened to nail me to hoover damn so I could watch Vegas burn.

I started believing it when he sent me (fully armored) flying twenty feet away with the back swing of his sword.

The battle went on for a while before it ended with both of us stabbing each other, well more like I stabbing him in the neck while he impaled me on that oversized blade of his. The last I saw of him was him limping away while I was pulling a foot of broken steel out of my abdomen.

Then Oliver showed up to congratulate me, the prick, and I promptly told him I was kicking the NCR out, which he did nor agree with. Then again it would be hard to argue against a robot army so he really didn't put up much of a fight before leaving.

After that my new nation grew, first by spreading Westward and eventually annexing the NCR during their time of instability after the disaster the was the expansion into the Mojave. Then it came to spreading east. The Legion was crumbling and were easy prey, at least at first. Lanius apparently survived the Bowie knife to the neck and while leading a nation was beyond him, leading an army was his bread and butter. He transformed the Legion from an unrelenting horde into a brutal war machine. He had them all using fire arms regularly and did away with the flimsy armor of sports gear and scavenged scrap metal. Now they were all refitted with full body armor, ballistic plating and proper gear for war mongering. Everything Caesar had decreed that held the Legion back like their hatred of technology and slavery of all women, Lanius was tearing down. For him it didn't matter whether Caesar would have agreed, so long as it made for a better war he didn't care. I found it ironic that it was Lanius who made the Legion more like the Romans of old than that old bastard I killed the Fort.

For five years they were a constant thorn in my side, but we all endured. We took the land that belonged to the Legion and made it our own. My little nation had become the New World Empire. Still we continued expanding east though whenever we encountered a tribe or settlement we did not conquer by force. No we convinced them to join us through acts of goodwill and promises of bettering their lives. Many joined, yet others said no. It was their choice so it didn't matter for me in the long run, I needed only to wait for the younger generation to see what we can do and either convince the more stubborn people to join or they would do so without the others consent. It was shrewd, but the older generations were the most stubborn against change even if it did benefit them. The young were not so set in their ways.

My Empire was strong and getting stronger everyday. Five years of constant expansion and war had been grueling for me, so I wished for a…vacation, of a sorts.

I left my most trusted in charge and made way towards the Boston Commonwealth. I went because I wished to find out what happened to my father's most trusted friend, Dr. Madison Li. She had been there for me after my father died and had been a good friend to me as well. After my supposed death at the purifier she was sick of all the senseless violence so she packed up and left. The last I had heard of her was that she was going to join a group known as the Institute in the Commonwealth, supposedly a faction dedicated to expanding the applications of science.

Arriving just north of the Commonwealth I made my way south and like always, curiosity got the best of me. Finding a Vault numbered one-eleven, I had a look inside. But like all things in my life things got complicated.

I found a man near the entrance of the Vault who I later learned his name was Nate. He was dying, a gunshot wound to the chest from what looked like a 44. Magnum. Feeling bad for the man I asked him who had done this to him. Apparently a bald man with a scar across his face had killed his wife and stolen his infant child. When he tried to fight back he was shot before getting shoved back into some pod. When the pod reopened he stumbled out and found his way here. His dying words being to ask me to save his son.

This struck a cord inside me, a father trying to find his lost child, the reverse of what had happened to me. I promised I would find the child and he died in my arms then, though there was still a bit of hope in his eyes as he passed on.

I later discovered the man had been cryogenically frozen for two hundred years as part of a Vault-tec experiment. Meaning he was a survivor of the great war. His son being stolen however seemed have happened more recently.

Setting out I encounter a group lead by someone from the local militia. From there I followed the clues to find out the very same group I had been looking for, the Institute had been the ones to steal the baby. They made these things called synths, synthetic humans, and had been using them as slave labor. Completely ignoring the fact that these synthetic had actually gained the ability to think for themselves and could genuinely feel emotion. Then I met the other factions such as the Railroad who were dedicated to freeing these synths, and the Brotherhood Of Steel Eastern Chapter who saw the Institute and Synths as a blight on the world that needed to be destroyed.

I was shocked to find my friends, my comrades in the chapter who had helped me in the beginning of my story were either dead or missing. Elder Lyons the kind old man was dead and so was his daughter Sarah who had been killed 'in action'. Now the saviors of DC I had known had been replaced by iron fisted zealots.

At the end of it all I lead the Minutemen men militia to victory against the Institute. Though it pained me to kill their leader, as it was the very boy I had sworn to save. It seems the child had been stolen some sixty years ago but to Nate it had been but moments. The militia expanded and took control of the Commonwealth while forcing the Brotherhood and Railroad into an uneasy peace, mostly by threatening to blow both sides to hell if they started attacking each other.

I was planning on preparing the place for the arrival of the Empire only to have to focus my attention on a robot menace lead by someone called the Mechanist. Then I helped create my own Vault while running my own far more moral experiments that would benefit people. _Then_ a friend named Nick got a job to track down a missing girl that lead us all the way to Maine to a place called the Island. Then finally I accidentally stumbled onto a group of extremely vicious raiders in a nearby amusement park called Nuka World. They are all dead now.

When representatives of the Empire finally arrived the people were more than welcoming to them. The only issue was that the Brotherhood didn't like the fact they were no longer the most technologically advanced army anymore. They never did anything about it but they made their displeasure very well known.

Now here I was, ruler of a growing kingdom, the world at my fingertips and anything I could ever want was mine with the snap of my fingers. Yet like I told Raul, I knew it was only temporary. Babylon, Rome, Britain they all fell eventually and I aimed to make sure this new age of reconstruction and prosperity did not come to an end. My people had been through enough, it was time make sure they could live however they wanted without fear of hunger, disease, being eaten by some wasteland horror or murdered for someone's sadistic pleasure.

So engrossed in my thoughts I hadn't realized I had walked myself all the way over to the old H&H tool factory. The area was more or less abandoned by everyone so I took a deep breath of the cool night air before turning around and heading back to the Strip.

At least I was until I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up straight and my instincts were screaming at me that there was danger nearby. Outwardly however I didn't give a single indication that I had sensed danger. Instead I just calmly started walking away while whistling a little tune from one of the countless songs I had heard on the radio. As I got further away from the factory the sense of danger was still there, now even more intense than before. Straining my senses I couldn't hear anything and I didn't want to give away I had sensed something by glancing back, yet I did make out a very faint smell of something sickly sweet. I brought up my pipboy as well and made it look like I was just fiddling with the device when I was actually looking at the built in motion tracker.

One contact directly behind me.

Whoever this person was they were good. Had I any less experience with stealthy opponents they would have been able to catch me by surprise. Knowing I was going to have a fight on my hands I went through a mental check list of my combat options.

 _Minimal weapons available. I was relaxing at the Thirty-eight so no big weapons only Chances knife in the left boot and a 45. caliber pistol stored in the pipboy. No wait, I was sparing earlier. What was I- right sword play. But what blade was it? Machete, kukri, katana? Each one had a different style and required skill set to each one. Now let's see-DUCK!_

Throwing myself down to the ground, I felt the air be displaced by something being swung not an inch from my head. Recovering quickly I rolled to my feet and activating my pipboy in one fluid motion. With a small flash of green light I felt a weight settle in my right hand and I tighten my grip on the handle. In retaliation I stabbed forward after the swing that left my attacker open. It came as a small surprise that their weapon came back and parried my blade to the side. Undeterred I let the momentum carry my blade until I spun on my heel and delivered a strike to his left side. Again it was stopped but this time our blades locked and I was able to see his weapon appeared to be foot long curved knife with a serrated blade. I also noted that I had atomized a Chinese officer's sword, a weapon I had more than a little experience with.

Whoever my attacker was, they was very strong. Be able to hold back my attack was no easy feet. Turning my sword I forced our blades to the side and apart. However my blade was much longer than his and as the blades disconnected the tip of the Chinese sword cut into my attackers left left bicep. It didn't do any serious damage but it drew blood and forced the enemy to retreat back.

They were unnaturally agile, jumping back a good thirty feet before I could blink. Now that they were a good distance away I could finally make out the details. It was obviously a man and he was very tall, about six and a half feet tall and able to look down at me. Yet for all his height the man was built like a twig and scrawny as can be, which made his strength all the more surprising. He had on an old ratty looking black long coat, black leather gloves, black pants and shoes. Everything worn by man was as black as shadow save fore a dark purple buttoned-up vest underneath his coat. His skin was as pale as a corpse's or at least the skin I could see as there was a purple cloth covering the lower half of his face. The only things showing was his short pitch black hair and insane looking eyes. The left was a milky white no doubt unable to see out of that one while the other was a vibrant shade of indigo that was gazing at me with a mix of excitement and murderous intent.

"Hahahaha! Oh boy oh boy what a feisty one you are!" He cackled in an odd accent I hadn't heard before, his voice going up and down in pitch erratically. "And you knew I was there too. What a perceptive little rat."

"Nightkin, Nightstalker, coursers and chameleon deathclaws. All them just as sneaky as you and I've killed them all. Now who are you working for? I want to know who I need to put in the ground after I'm done with you." I slowly tightened the grip on my sword while preparing to activate my pipboy again.

"Why I work for my dear Master and him alone. The boy is a bastard after my own heart. Now he sent me out looking for people like you cause apparently he doesn't want the competition for tha' bloody grail. Now here I was looking any of those magi still running around searching for other Masters and low and behold I have found you! Not that you were hard to find my friend. The amount of Prana coming off you is just ridiculous."

I raised my eyebrow in confusion. "Just what the hell are you rambling on about you crazy son of a bitch? Magi? Prana? Grail? I think you've read one to many comics you psycho."

He just looked at me as I were the one talking crazy before bursting out in laughter. "Oh that's just rich! You haven't a clue what's going on do you? Oh well, be a good boy and stay-"

Dropping my sword to the ground, I tapped my pipboy and reatomized the pistol. Pulling the trigger the 45. caliber round went screaming towards the man. My eyes widened when his arm moved almost to fast for me to see and the bullet was deflected by his knife.

"Tsk, rude." He rumbled before rushing me.

The man fast, as unnaturally fast as he was agile. Every time I pulled the trigger he was no longer there and all I could make out was a black blur. I pulled my arm back just as his blade made a swipe for my hand but it wasn't fast enough as the blade dug into the flesh an inch below my wrist. Had it been anyone else they would have lost their hand but for me it was another matter. I had years ago discovered an old military project dedicated to making new types of metal for armor and vehicles. The researchers had succeeded spectacularly but the world had ended to soon to go into gulp production. They had dubbed it Adimantium and it was by far the most durable metal I had ever seen, being able to take artillery shells and nuclear blasts without a scratch. Though I couldn't make any armor from it due to limited material I was inspired by an old comic book character (and several shots of vodka) to implement a unique use for the super metal.

The dark clothed man's blade may have cut the flesh easily but it bounced off my adimantium coated bones like a rock bounces off armor plating. His blow however was enough to make me lose my grip on the pistol and it clattered to the ground. Without a weapon in hand I swung my left fist in an uppercut to his face. It hit and he was sent reeling backwards but it felt as if I had just punched a brick wall.

Using my foot I put the edge of my boot under the sword's blade and kicked up to my waiting hand. Without hesitation I delivered a quick but powerful strike at the man, but I knew something was wrong only to realize too late. Just as the sword was about to hit and though it was hard to make out due to his cloth mask, I could see what looked like the corners of her mouth rise which meant that the bastard was smiling. As the steel meat flesh I felt no resistance as the man just seemed to melt into smoke in the blink of eye.

"What the fuck?"

Wide eyed I tried to piece together what had happened, only to feel pain explode from my left lower back.

I grit my teeth at the pain but it was not a new experience for me having been stabbed numerous of times in the past. So without a sound I reversed my grip on the sword and stabbed backwards at the man who had somehow gotten behind me. I felt the metal leave my body and my blade jerked sideways as the bastard once again deflected my attack.

Rolling forwards I put some distance between my attacker and I only to see he was upon me again. He swung his blade so fast I barely registered I had gained a deep cut across my chest before another was aimed at my throat. Bringing the Chinese sword up to repel the attack I felt some resistance before I heard the sound of metal hitting pavement. It had done what I wanted and protected me, but I barely contained my shock as the hardened and tempered steel that made up the lethal blade had been cut in two.

I expected another follow up attack, yet I glanced at my opponent to see he had stopped his advances altogether. He was looking between me and the now ruined blade. Holding out his arms, he then proceeded to slowly clap his hand together in mock applause while still holding his knife.

"My you really are so bloody stubborn aren't you little rat? You couldn't just roll over and die, no you had to go and make me work for my meal. Now I like ta' fight as much as the next man but my patience has its limits!" He yelled angrily.

Without any warning a fist flew into my gut and I could almost feel several of my organs switch places as the world went flying by. It all came to a sudden and painful halt as I hit what must have been an actual brick wall. Pain rippled through my body and my sight went hazy as I pulled my self out of the dent I made. I idly noticed the ruined sword was still clutched in my hand. Looking up I gave a sigh at seeing a now very familiar silhouette not ten feet away.

"Still alive!?"

"Still kicking asshole." I grumbled as I srumbled forward before righting myself. Every thing was sore but there was still a threat to deal with so I would just have to push through the pain for now.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" The man screamed before he was a blur once again.

It was then that I had has enough of this freak. I was the Lone Wanderer. I was the Courier. I was the Sole Survivor of the divide and ruler of the New World Empire. I was NOT going to die on some rundown street at the hands of some edgy B movie villian.

Standing up straight I felt a warmth spread through my body and all the pain was washed away. When the man was about a foot away I raised my left arm. The pipboy devise was a miracle of technology, housing computer processers, GPS, a Geiger counter, automated targeting system and atomization tech. It would make sense for its creators to want to protect the inner workings at all costs so made its casing strong enough to survive nuclear war. And so the device stopped his blade instantly and using my new opportunity I turned the broken sword into a makeshift dagger. The man's other hand shot out and grabbed my wrist in a vise like grip just when the sharp end was coming down towards his neck.

There we stood, one man trying to overpower the other. The price of losing was our life. Again this was nothing new to me.

"I…am not…going…to die...TO YOU!" I screamed in his face.

It was then that warm became overwhelmingly hot as if I had taken a direct blast from a flamer. The world around us was bathed in a bright green light and glancing down I saw a bright green six pointed star inside of a circle appear on the ground. Looking back at the attacker I saw his eyes widened in shock as there was a pressure that seemed to develop between us. It got the point that the light grew so intense it seemed to almost take a solid form and I could feel myself sliding backwards.

All at once the pressure and light condensed and exploded into a small shockwave that knocked me off my feet onto my back. Blinking the stars from my eyes I slowly sat up to see another figure standing where I had just been struggling with my attempted killer and gave a groan of annoyance.

"Oh now what?"

The new person was an odd one. There were looking at me and I could see they were around 5' 8" and of Asian decent. I couldn't quite tell what gender they were but I could hazard a guess that it was a he based on their body language. His clothes consisted of a bright red robe cover their torso while billowy black pants and boots covered his lower half. On top of that was a hardened black leather armor with golden accents that protected all the vital organs with similar looking shoulder pads with golden thread hanging down from what looked like a stylized dragons head. A black and gold helmet surrounded their head only revving the face with a golden spike jutting out the top and a red plume falling down towards his back. He walked over to me and kneeled so that we were on eye level and I could see he had a pair of soft brown eyes and a vertical scar going from his right eyebrow down to just above the corner of his lip. He was oddly handsome looking in a pretty-boy sort of way.

"You there, are you the one to summon me to this plane? Are you the one who would be my master?" He asked in an odd sounding deep voice.

I just sat there dumbstruck for a few seconds and finally realizing he had asked me a question. After another few seconds I forced out an answer.

"What…the ever living fuck… is even going on?"

At the same time we both turned our heads towards the sound of scraping feet. It was the black clad man pulling himself up to face us both, though now he was glaring at the Asian man as well now. "Oh now this is just poor taste. Summoning a Servant in the middle of our fight? Now Little Rat that's just rude. But as much fun as this is I know tha' can't win this one head on. Don't worry my friend well be meeting again _real soon_. Tata for now!"

He then sheathed his weapon and ran towards the alley he had come from. The new person gave a low growl before pulling out a sword from his waist that I hadn't seen before. It was similar in shape to the officer's sword I had been using but the blade was much cleaner and the handle was a beautiful gold coloring with a soft brown leather grip. "You attack my Master so arrogantly yet flee as soon as you encounter another servant? You cowardly dog I will end you!"

The armed man ran after the retreating killer with a speed to surpass a deathclaw's and his blade at the ready. Shaking my self out of the stupor I lunged for my fallen pistol and had it in hand just as the Asian caught up with black and purple garbed man. With a swing of the blade so fast I hardly saw his arm move his strike cut through the brickwork and if my eyes weren't deceiving me made the entire building shift backwards and almost buckle from the blow. Unfortunately the shadowy man leapt above the strike and avoided the blow.

Too bad he didn't avoid mine.

Not letting the display of absurd strength distract me, I took aim at my target. The man was in mid air and had all his attention focused on the Asian man. He had only just noticed me on the ground with a pistol pointed right at him when I pulled the trigger. He attempted turn his body while in the air to avoid the piece of metal going faster than sound but only succeeded in having the bullet pierce his right shoulder instead of his chest.

With a cry he fell back to earth on his back and rolled away from the closest threat that was the Asian man and into the alleys shadows. While clutching his shoulder in pain, he sent one last hate filled glare with his one good eye my way before giving an ungodly sounding howl of rage. As son as he stopped the shadows seemed to crawl around him until there was nothing but darkness and the feeling of danger that I had felt disappeared entirely. Check my pipboy's motion tracker I could not longer see any sign that he was hiding somewhere in the alley. He had just up and disappeared without a trace.

Getting to my feet, I saw the Asian man look around the alleyway before sheathing his sword and walking back towards me. Now despite the circumstances and how confused I was about this whole incident, I was perceptive enough to notice that despite how relaxed his walk was, there was a slight awkwardness to it like it was an unnatural gait.

"It seems the enemies servant has fled for now…my…Master?" He hesitated. Then again he now had the wrong end of my pistol pointed at his face so it was understandable.

"Alright buddy explanations are currently in order." I narrowed my eyes. "Who are you? Who was that? And what the fuck is going on here?!"

"Uh well that was another Servant of another Master who was no doubt sent to kill you and any other participants of the upcoming Holy Grail War. As for who I am, I am your loyal Servant that you called from the Throne of Heroes." He tilted his head in confusion in a way that kind of reminded me of a dog. "You did summon me to fight for the Grail did you not?"

"No. I most certainly did not. One moment I'm wrestling that scarecrow of a man for my life then the next there's this light, everything goes crazy and poof there you are."

We both stayed silent while I waited for a proper explanation and he seemed to be thinking on what would be the best reponse. It was a solid minute before the Asian man seemed to decide on something.

"If you would lead me back to your home I believe you and I have much to discuss."

I gave a low mirthless chuckle at that. "Please, like I'm just going to just up and trust someone I've only just meet enough to let them into _my_ home. Especially one who's lying to me about who they are."

He seemed taken aback at the accusation I threw his way before his expression turned one into one that was a mix of determination and slight anger. "I swear too you Master that I would never betray or harm you and that you can trust me with your life. Also I have not told you any lies and am frustrated you would think I have."

I shot him a glare that let my own frustration be known. "Your right, you haven't told me anything but the truth so far, despite how confusing that truth is. No, from the moment you appeared you have been lying to me about what you are by simply acting like you had nothing to hide. Now I'm not a prideful man but I do know that I can notice things that just about anyone else would easily miss. It's one of the reasons I'm still alive."

I leaned in closer using my extra four inches of height to look down on this 'Servant'. Now that I was closer I could see the sword wielder in front of me looked like they were a year or two my junior and he had not shown any signs of being intimidated. That in itself was worthy of respect.

"First is the way you talk. A strange baritone that doesn't match your frame along with having a slight high pitch undertone. The way you walk is forced, like you want to move your hips one way but you're making yourself move them another. Despite the loose clothes and concealing armor you can't completely hide your naturally thinner and smaller stature. Those hands of your that are currently tightening on the grip of your sword are both calloused yet strangely delicate, not to mention you're obviously getting nervous about what I'm saying based on that action. Finally your helmet perfectly protects your head while allowing you to see perfectly without compromising your peripheral vision. It also hides everything but yours face which combined with your masculine looking armor and clothing would lead the less observant people into seeing you as nothing more than a slightly feminine looking man. One of these observations would be seen as a coincidence but put them all together and it paints a pretty clear picture. Now the real question is what exactly should I be calling you? Miss…?" I lowered and tucked away my weapon while I flashed her an amused and knowing smile.

'He' just stood there in front of me for a full minute, jaw open in obvious shock and disbelief. It didn't last to long before that jaw shut and those lips curled upward into a smile. Then there was laughter that started out as a chuckle before growing in volume and became less of a deep baritone and more light with a musical quality.

"Over a decade of fighting and living with veteran soldiers, master tacticians and ruthless assassins." The sword wielder said as all traces of the male voice disappeared with a much more pleasant and very feminine sounding one. "Yet not a single one had any clue that I didn't have anything dangling between my legs. Yet my new Master figures out in just a few minutes."

Reaching up the woman grabbed the helmet and lifted it up. Out came shoulder length silky hairy silky black hair that seemed to catch what little light there was on the abandoned street.

"As for what to call me? You can just call me Sabre." She smirked.

Now there I was, just standing there like an idiot. I could feel myself cheeks burning and I just hoped that she couldn't see them in the poor light. This lady, Sabre I mentally reminded myself, was one of the most beautiful women I had ever laid eyes on. She was cute with the helmet on yet somehow just letter her beautiful glossy hairy free she had gone from cute to down right gorgeous. Even the scar that normally retracted from her looks only gave her a more wild beauty. Realizing I had been staring longer than I meant to I raised my fist to mouth and faked a cough.

"W-well Sabre it's nice day to meet you. Obviously I don't want you calling me Master, honestly that's sounds like something that belongs in Gomorrah. You can just call me James, James Cooper. You have a lot of explaining to do."

 **…**

 **End of the chapter right here and yes I made our resident protagonist is not just the player character of not one, not two but three fallout games. Really adds some new levels of insanity when you make one man go through all that. Now yes he was able to fend off that one Servant but as it stands he can't go toe to toe with the other more powerful ones, at least not right now. Who knows what James could do to even the odds in his favor? Oh wait, I do.**

 **Now I'll get right out and say that there will be lots of OC servants and masters. There won't be any returning heroes from past wars but that adds a new level of fun for you guys to try and figure them out before their true identities are revealed. And of course there will be plenty of villains to take down and what fic would be complete without a bid bad doomsday threat?**

 **Now please leave a review and if I get any of the Type Moon lore wrong could you guys gone asynchronous on me? Shit is confusing sometimes.**

 **Anyways have a great day!**


	2. Heroes, Spaceships and Swords

**Hi long time no see. No excuses just did not have the passion to write. Doesn't matter carry on reading!**

 **...**

 **Chapter 2: Heroes, Spaceships and Swords**

 **The Clock Tower, Cornelius Lockheart IV**

Setting down my glass of 1926 McCallum scotch, I rubbed my temples in an effort to alleviate the incoming migraine that came when dealing with my fellow magi.

"So what your telling me is not only has the last Servant been summoned by some 'wastelander' who's not registered with the association, but you also managed to lose track of that Magus killer of a servant?" I demanded of the young blonde haired enforcer in front of me.

"Yes lord Lockheart." He replied. "The servant we believe to be of the Assassin class was tracked to a region formally known as the Mojave desert. Our agents arrived upon a fight between the Servant and an unknown individual where the two fought on somewhat even ground before the impromptu summoning of another Servant ended the conflict. We were unsure of its class and the agents were forced to retreat before they were discovered." The young man said, Jacob I believe was his name.

"They were able to acquire a picture of the new Master however." He stated as he set the colored photograph down in front of me. I felt my old heart skip a beat as I gazed at the new Master. I suddenly felt my age as I looked upon those piercing green eyes that burned with a fierce passion even while he was obviously injured. He still stood unwavering and proud like some warrior or king of old.

"Of course would end up involved in this." I said shaking my head.

Jacob looked surprised. "You know the man my lord?"

"I know of him. Are you aware of the status of the North American continent?"

"Only that it was the most devastated by the nuclear attacks and that there have been reports of mutants, monsters and other abominations appearing all around the continent. It is also extremely difficult to send agents there as the people are all uncouth barbarians with nary a magic circuit between them." He said the last sentence with a sneer.

I resisted the temptation to roll my eyes at his arrogant remark. I had always been fond of history during my educational years. I had learned from my teacher's lessons that the Magi of the Association had always been prideful about magic's superiority over technology, even when technology had in fact matched and even surpassed certain magics. That may not had been the lesson they intended to teach but it was the one I learned. It frustrated me to no end on the technophobia found in most magi that made things needlessly complicated.

"Yes but while the continent was turned into a scorched wasteland it had the most amount of people to survive the Great War. While the rest of the world was busy tearing itself apart America had the foresight to create underground nuclear shelters and had wanted to preserve their technology. Even now they have access to devices we thought were lost two hundred years ago. And those 'barbarians' have managed to survive in one of the most hostile environments on the planet where just about every living thing wants them dead. And they have done so for two whole centuries. Surviving is a daily battle and others have even managed to thrive!" I said my voice slowly growing in volume.

"This man you say fought a servant and _survived_ is James Cooper. While our reports on this man aren't as detailed as we would like, what we do know is not good. Most of the information comes from stories and are most likely embellished tales, but what they all agree on is that the man has a penchant for surviving what should have been suicide for anyone else. Over the last ten years he has started wracking up a massive body count that includes several Clock Tower agents that went rogue. Now he's managed to go and build his own bloody kingdom in that hellhole with himself sitting on the throne. Yes, the bastard is currently the ruler of the single biggest and most advanced civilization in the world. Now you come and tell me that this very same man is currently in the running for the Holy Grail?!"

Jacob remained silent and stoic as could be but I could see the dawning realization in his eyes. "Lockheart Sir, perhaps we could-"

"If there is nothing else you are excused enforcer."

Straightening his stance, Jacob gave a short bow before turning on his heel and exiting through the door.

I myself sat down in my old leather chair and turned around to look out my office window. It was a beautiful view of the once great city of London. The sky was a beautiful blue that contrasted greatly with the grey landscape below. The skyscrapers were close too collapsing, the streets were cracked and some of the smaller buildings were completely overgrown by vegetation.

Two hundred years earlier London had been the capital of the European Commonwealth before the infighting had ripped the continent apart. The day the world burned, London had luckily not been hit directly by a bomb, but the surrounding areas had not been so fortunate. While the buildings owned by the Magus Association had been reinforced and stocked with enough food to last generations the rest of the city had not been so well prepared for a nuclear apocalypse. The nuclear fallout and radiation had blown into the city and the masses could not be spared from the horrible fate that followed. Radiation poisoning, starvation from lack of food and no clean water for miles saw to a catastrophic number of deaths.

It was that way all across the globe, the only difference being that America and China had been hit the hardest. It was by well-founded paranoia that the old company Vault-Tec, the same company that was hired to build the association's buildings, had set up massive underground bunkers all across America. Though from the rumors the agents had heard most of them were home to all sorts of atrocities and experiments that made even magus hardened hearts feel disgust. Either way the world had been burned and everyone was dealing with it differently.

South America and Africa had been mostly intact save for the largest cities, but the people had returned to their tribal roots and had developed several large villages based in the remains of Rio, Cape Town and Dubai. Australia was a barren desert where tribes of maniacs fought over water and petrol to support their fleets of still functioning vehicles. The only thing of note was some road warrior Max Rockatansky fighting the more violent tribes across the continent. Europe was mostly ruined and empty save for the occasional village or settlement. It's worst threats come from the occasional mutant or the great many bands of raiders and marauders that got their hands on a few prewar weapons or had gone and made their own. The Soviet Union was destroyed by China in an act of vengeance for their softening of their relationship with the west and was now stuck in a literal nuclear winter that showed no signs of ending. From a few reports it seems most of the remaining populace took to living in the Old Metro tunnels while fending off their own forms of mutants and those 'Dark Ones' and all the other strange activity that grabbed the association's attention. China was now nothing more than dead rock and ragged weeds with the rest of Asia little better with the occasional warlord popping up now and then. Even North America was now a scorched wasteland where survival was a daily struggle.

I shook my head at that. America had been an extremely fascinating case for magi all around the world. Since magi were some the only people with the means and transportation to travel the world, a great many magi had gone there to study the strange beasts that emerged from the nuclear apocalypse that had ravaged the land. Mutants were not uncommon throughout the world, my own many times great grandfather was one of those few people who had been turned into those 'ghouls' from exposure to too much radiation. Last I heard that man was still kicking and continuing that 'Great Game' of his. The American wasteland however had so many beasts it seemed as if there was a new monster around every corner. I myself had briefly visited the scorched continent when I was a young man. I barely escaped the place with my life after an encounter with heavily armed marauders. I still had the scar from where a bullet had grazed my shoulder. The only reason I had survived had been because the gunfire had attracted the attention of one of the local beasts. It had been a ten foot tall monster that resembled those old pictures of demons. It's claws had torn the men apart with disturbing ease and the bullets that had found there marks in its flesh did nothing to slow it down and only seemed to enrage the thing further. Even after I had left the blasted rock behind I fell ill with what I had later learned was minor radiation poisoning. The whole thing had been a rather terrifying yet humbling experience.

Unfortunately a great many of those magi had a similar mindset as Jacob. They went in believing their magic would be enough to protect them from the 'commoners.' Most never came back. They were either eaten by a beast, neutralized by a rampaging robot or had underestimated one of the locals and found a knife in their back. Or maybe they had just fallen to the land itself as their storms and weather anomalies could be even worse than the wildlife.

Yet Mr. Cooper had made that danger work for him. One of the few solid pieces of intel the Association had on him was that he had emerged from a vault ten years ago without any worldly experience whatsoever. Yet rather than be broken, he was remade. Whenever he was reported dead by an informant, a few days later another report would come in claiming he had survived. He never stopped fighting for his goals and whenever he was knocked down he would just get right back up.

I suppose that is why the grail had chosen him as a Master. The Grail was semi-sentient and chose the Masters as it pleased yet it had a tendency to choose them based on their unique outlooks on life.

"Maybe if you win James you'll actually be able to make things better for us all. I suppose I should just be glad there is at least one Master with a good head on his shoulders."

…

 **Lucky 38, James Cooper**

It was these kinds of days that really made me want to stick a gauss rifle under my chin and blow my head off just to end the constant insanity. Then again from what I had just been told not even death was guaranteed to end the crazy.

I had dragged Sabre back to the Lucky 38 which had been a hassle in its own right. At first she had been very adamant in getting me to any nearby medical aid once she saw the true extent of my wounds. I had assured her I was fine though it had taken a bit of convincing to leave it alone. I could feel my body was just about done repairing itself even now. Cybernetics really could work miracles. Then came the challenge of actually getting inside the casino as she was extremely interested in some possible sightseeing after she saw how much light and beauty there was on the Strip, but I grabbed her by the collar before she could do anything. Getting inside I had sent out a message to gather my friends considering they would want to know what I had gotten myself into. It was lucky my friends from the Commonwealth had followed me on my month long trip to Vegas. We had all gathered in the penthouse where I had told my little tale, introduced them to Sabre and she in turn began her own explanation.

I really wish I could get drunk.

"So let me get this straight." Cass said rubbing her eyes. "This dumbass with the bloody shirt gets into a fight with a scarecrow, gets his ass kicked-"

"It was a mutual ass kicking thank you very much." I interjected.

"-accidentally summoned you and he ran away by melting into shadow? And you are a Servant, a hero from the past and your going to be fighting other undead heroes and magic people for some cup that grants wishes?"

"Yes." Sabre answered.

"And this has been in the making for hundreds of years because the other wars have all ended with no one winning because they all killed each other?"

"Yep."

"And now it's all happening again with James being a contest to this fucked up game? Oh, and apparently not only does magic exist but this idiot is absolutely overflowing with the damn stuff?"

Sabre was clearly annoyed and let it be known with a loud sigh. "Yes, it almost as if I didn't just tell you all that not ten minutes ago."

They all just gave glances at each other before Hancock started chuckling. "Man that is some out of this world shit. Just what have you two been smoking to come up with all that?...Also where can I get some?"

"You know for once I agree with Hancock." Nick the synthetic detective said while taking puff of his cigarette (even though he was a robot and it did nothing for him). "Heroes being brought back from the past by these magi and the Holy Grail suddenly appearing to grant wishes like some genie from a lamp? That's one tough pill to swallow."

I got up from my seat and got in front face all of my friends, and Strong. I briefly eyed the spot where one of my most trusted friends should have been only to remember he wouldn't be sitting there ever again. I looked at all of their faces that were showing either disbelief, impassive looks or otherwise confused expressions. I couldn't blame them, I knew that this woman Sabre wasn't lying and everything she was saying was the honest to God truth. I didn't know why but I believed her. There was something at the back of my mind that was telling me to take what she had to say to heart. Maybe it was that I had seen enough nonsense during my time on and off this planet that let me entertain the validity of her claims. Then again I felt a strange connection to her as that warmth I felt when she appeared was still very much present, if less intense. Probably something magical.

"Alright look guys, I know this is crazy, and I mean really crazy but I believe her. I mean when I stabbed at that man he literally turned into smoke and teleported behind me. There were these runes and stars on the then Sabre here appeared from no where in a flash of light. Would it really be a stretch to say she's telling the truth?"

"But James, what your basically asking us all to believe that _magic_ exists. I mean seriously?" McCready said and eliciting a few nods from the others.

"Okay who's to say magic isn't real? Plus with all that we've seen can you really say that the supernatural can't possibly exist? Seriously do you all not remember Dunwitch?"

This caused several of my friends from the Commonwealth to pale and even Strong looked at the shadows of the room as if something were lurking there.

"Ok, so magic's real." McCready continued as if he had just been as white as a ghost. "Your still just going to jump head first into some battle royal with wizards just like that? Not to mention you just going to up and trust this bit-I mean lady just like that?"

"Can I really afford not to? If this Holy Grail really can grant any wish then this a chance to change this trash heap of a planet for the better. If not that than just to make sure some maniac like Dr. Braun, Caesar or Father never gets there hand on it. As for trusting Sabre, well I gave you all a chance and we were strangers back then with no reason to get along. Plus I've got a good feeling about her." I said casting the swordswoman a glance and saw her flashing a small smile of gratitude.

"Heh, I think I know what that good feelin' is. Just head over to Gomorrah and they'll get right fixed." Cait said snickering.

Sabre stepped forward and I saw her eyes narrow as glared at the red head from Boston. "Master may I strike her? I really really want to."

"No Saber," I said rolling my eyes. "leave her alone...for now. Although they do make a good point about you. I don't know a single thing about you other than your my Servant, hell I'm going to take a wild guess and say Sabre isn't your real name."

"Your right Master. Sabre is my class."

"Class?" I quirked an eyebrow.

"Yes, there are seven classes for the seven servants, each designating what type of fighters they are. The seven are Sabre, Rider, Lancer, Caster, Berserker, Archer and Assassin. I am Sabre, a hero who is the master of the sword. Rider is a master of mounts whether they be chariots, horses or mythical beasts. Lancer fights with either a Lance or spear and is the most agile class while Caster wields powerful magic that no modern Magus could hope to match. Berserker is a servant who gives into rage and insanity to push themselves beyond their physical limits at the expense of rationality. Archer will be a difficult opponent as he is a master of long ranged fighting. As for Assassin, well the name speaks for itself."

Hearing about all my potential opponents I could see several ways of taking them down but it was best not to commit to any plans before seeing the full extent of the others capabilities. Yet that's when a now fairly obvious fact came to mind.

"The bastard that attacked me must have been Assassin then. Trying to catch me off guard, stabbing me in the back and seemingly at home in the dark? He definitely fits the bill." I got nods from the others at seeing my logic.

"But back to the topic at hand. I don't know a single thing about you Sabre. I can't very well put my life in someone's hands without knowing something about them. You don't have to tell your life's story or your darkest secret. How about a real name to put to your oh so adorable face." I said with a teasing smirk.

Sabre's reaction was instantaneous. Her face became as red as an apple and her eyes widened slightly. Then much like a confused super mutant, she struck out. I barely saw the fist but I sure as hell felt it. It impacted my arm with the force of a sledgehammer, which was not an exaggeration I would know from experience. I felt the flesh ripple under her fist from the impact that would have broken anyone else's arm.

"Ow!" I said clutching my shoulder. "There a better ways of saying no teasing other than trying to brake my bones! Man now I'm going to bruise." I mumbled the last part more to myself.

"You know you had that coming!" She snapped. She gave me a quick glare before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Opening them again saw that she no longer looked upset and far less flustered.

 _Note to self, don't tease the undead spirit hero warrior._

"Anyways, my name is a sensitive topic Master and though these are your companions it is best that as few people as possible know a Servant's true identity."

"What's so important about learning some old fossil's name?" Pipers asked, finally looking up from her note pad. No doubt she had written everything that had been said down and this story was most likely going to be spread to every corner of the Empire, or at least a somewhat censored version. It was hard to imagine her little newspaper in Diamond City had spread to every region under my rule with more and more reporters signing on to get the truth on what was happening in the wastes.

I was about to speak up when Danse, the former Brotherhood Paladin beat me to it. "It's a severe tactical weakness. If a Servant really is a Hero from the past then it was most likely that were revered, idolized maybe even worshipped. All that would have been documented and the information preserved. No doubt it contained their entire story from their origins to their deaths. Weapons, tactics, fighting styles, strengths and weaknesses. All you need is to know what to look for."

Sabre gave Danse a nod of her head. "You are correct, for a Servant our names hold power. If it is permitted Master, I think it wise that I not reveal who I am." She said turning towards me.

I thought about it for a second. It did make some sense. In the heat of battle all sorts of things could happen without a person meaning to. Perhaps I might call out to her and accidentally call her by her real name in front of our enemies, therefore giving them enough information to learn all her secrets. If I didn't know her name however, there was no chance of let slip her true identity. But…

"Nope." I said shaking my head. "Sorry Sabre but even though there's a chance of the enemy learning your story I need to know who's watching my back. Not to mention that I need to know your strengths and weaknesses just as much as my enemies do. What if you were invulnerable to everything save a knife made of gold and I commanded you to fight someone with such a weapon and I never realized it? That would be a dumb thing to do. As for my friends here, well…" I flashed them all a smile. "…I'd trust them all with my life. So whatever you need to tell me you can say it in front of them."

Sabre was silent for a moment before looking between the others and I. She looked into my eyes before giving me a friendly smirking and putting her hands on her hips. "They really are you loyal companions aren't they? You make some very good points as well. I will do as you ask Master."

She turned herself so that she could look at both me and my friends as her face took on a serious expression.

"My legend started around eighteen hundred years ago during the Northern Wei dynasty in the land you would know as China. One day I was born and my parents named me after my mother's favorite plant from her garden. Magnolia Flower. Hua Mulan."

I raised my eyebrow at hearing her name. It had a very musical and poetic ring to it. Like knowing the lyrics to some random song I hadn't heard in years, I knew I had heard her name mentioned somewhere before but I couldn't place where. Mostly likely I was nodding off during Mr. Brotch's class as history wasn't my best subject back then. But a hero from a thousand and eight hundred years ago, and from China no less! The nation that was right along side the U.S. in destroying the world. Yet this girl lived centuries before communism was even an idea, no they had an emperor if my knowledge was right. Of course I would need to look into her story later.

"Well, let me say it's an honor to meet you Mulan. Just your name will do for now, I'll just look up your tale later when I have time. Now as for the grail war coming up, what are some of the specifics? You haven't told us what the rules will be or any of the details. I mean will I have to go all across the wasteland to find the other participants? How will I find these other masters? Do they all have to die? And most importantly why are you still calling me Master!? I told you to stop that!"

"Oh that's a simple answer." She said with a grin. "Calling you Master annoys you, and annoying you is oh so much fun."

I crossed my arms in annoyance, just like she said. I then cast a quick scathing glare at my friends when I head several snickers.

"Anyways, the competition is set to take place in the city of Fuyuki in the old nation of Japan. It is where the previous wars have been and will still be held. As for identifying the masters it will be a simple task of locating any magus in the area and seeing if they have Command Seals."

"Command Seals?" I asked only for her to grab my right hand and turn it over to for me to see the strange red markings that had been bothering me for a few days. "Wait you mean the tattoos?"

"Yes, these are Command Seals. They are what symbolizes the contract between Master and Servant. It also gives you the ability to give three commands that can not be disobeyed, even physically forcing the servant to do whatever was commanded, even if we don't wish to." Mulan said the last part with what sounded like a touch of nervousness.

I shifted uncomfortably on my feet. What she had told me sounded uncomfortably like slavery. Then again she was more or less a glorified familiar and from what I've read is that familiars typically are obedient to all orders from their summoner and acted like a Mister Handy with a simple AI matrix. Although the fact she was _my_ familiar brought up another set of questions.

"look, you don't need to worry about the command seals. I won't force to do anything against your will." I explained and could visibly see her body relax a bit. "However, my next question is how are you here? I mean I have read a LOT of comic books, and all of them agree that the only people who can summon something like you are wizards and mages. Magus I guess is the proper term. And well, I'm not magical, unless you count making people's money disappear in the casinos."

She looked into my eyes and then scanned the rest of my body, for what reason I couldn't say. "Master, that couldn't be any further from the truth. We Servant's aren't really flesh and bone like you would believe. We are able to change back and forth between our physical and spiritual forms."

As if to demonstrate, in the blink of an eye her body just seemed to turn into bright blue particles that faded until there was nothing left. I heard several quiet gasps and Hancock asking if he wasn't the only one to see that. The strange thing was even though she was gone, I could still feel her. My instincts were still telling me that Mulan was still standing in front of me.

 _ **Don't worry, I'm still here.**_

I heard the woman's voice clear as day as if she were talking right next to my ear. Her voice however had a strange echo to it as well. A glance to my right let me see that none of the others reacted to the voice, as if I was the only one to hear it.

 _Telepethy? Oh that is just plain cool._

Then just sudden as she left, she reappeared in the same matter standing in the exact same spot. "My physical form simulates my body from when I was alive. I have all my organs, my flesh is as smooth and soft as it was in life and I can bleed like anyone else. Yet it is all made of Prana or magical energy if you prefer. I need a constant source of Prana otherwise I would be stuck in spirit form and us Servants are given prana from our masters. All humans have prana but it is mostly such an insignificant amount that they can't do a thing with it. Magi on the other hand have varying amounts which combined with their magical circuits let them perform magic as you know it. You however are an oddity."

I could feel her eyes scrutinizing my entire body. As if she were something I couldn't.

"You have vast amounts of Prana yet I can't detect a single magical circuit anywhere. And before you ask, a magical circuit is the pseudo-nervous system that allows people to perform magic. You're no magus, but the energy you have is more than enough to sustain me. The strange thing is that your Prana levels should not be this high for a non-magus, but the energy is not your own."

"What? How could my energy not be my own?" I asked.

"Prana can come from many places. From the environment to any living being but this prana shouldn't…uh, exist, for lack of a better word. It has become a part of you, a part of your soul but it didn't come from you. It's seems almost divine, but in a warped state like it doesn't belong on this world yet it does. Unnatural and dark, but not malicious in nature."

My blood ran cold. With every word the pit in my stomach that had suddenly appeared had grown steadily bigger. I knew exactly what she was talking about and the way she described that feeling was exactly how I would describe the force I had encountered in my first year out in the wastes.

From my group of friends and massive green juggernaut stepped forward with every step shaking the floor. My mood improved somewhat as my only remaining companion from D.C. stepped forward.

"My friend, if Miss Hua is correct in her assessment then is it possible that book you obtained from may have something to do with it. After all I remember you complaining of feeling strange for several weeks after you destroyed that abomination of literature." Fawkes said.

I nodded at him. "I was just thinking the same thing buddy. I always knew destroying that book would come back to bite me in the ass, now apparently it's caused me to summon some ancient hero and get dragged into some magical death battle for a magic cup. Why must my life be so insane?"

"Alright guys, while I'm gone I need you too hold down the fort and put out any fires that might pop up while I'm away. Now I don't know how long I'll be-"

"Woah hold up a minute Boss. It almost sounds like you plan on leaving us behind." Raul said.

"I am. Guys, this isn't safe for you all. We're talking about magic and heroes here. That Assassin guy went toe to toe with me and I saw Mulan manage to shake an entire building with a sword strike. This is extremely dangerous and… I just don't know what would happen if I lose you guys. Your my family. I don't want to lose anyone else." I said in a low voice.

I couldn't lose another friend. I just couldn't stand the idea watching one of the people I trusted most in the world fade away in my arms. Not again. Never again.

I felt a strong gloved hand rest on my shoulder and looked up to see Preston looking at me with that damned smile on his. I had wanted to punch his lights out every time he bugged me about helping out settlements in danger, even if they had enough guns to blow away an army. Yet I always remembered that the Minuteman was bar one of the most optimistic, dedicated and kind hearted men I had the pleasure of meeting in this rotten world.

"General, I know your worried but we can take care of ourselves. You've always helped us out when you had no reason to do so and got us through whatever trouble we found ourselves in with any compensation or reward. You did simply because that's just the kind of man you are. So now it's our turn to help you out. Where ever you go, you can bet I'm going to be following right behind. With or without your say so."

"Damn right bucko."

"Despite the high probability of it ending in my grisly death, sure I'll come along."

"Strong fight Servant!"

"Beep-Boop!"

They all gave their own form of agreement, I was somewhat taken aback by their willingness to follow me into this new danger. I also couldn't have been more happy to my friends by my side.

"Alright alright you can all come along but you're not staying. It's in Japan and it'll be in completely unknown territory so you can't all just stick around and draw attention to yourselves. Most of this 'war' will likely be a glorified game of cat and mouse, only between deathclaws. The last thing I need is to make it easier for them to track us. So if I need you guys for help you will need to been able to jump in and bug out in a moments notice. Now I know how we can do just that, but we need to go somewhere else to make that happen. Just let me get things straightened out before we get going."

Walking over to the gigantic computer monitor and keyed in several passcodes before the thing came to life with its monitor glowing bright. The intense glow dimmed after a moment to reveal now rather cartoonish looking happy face.

"Hi there! Nice to see you again buddy!" The face said in an overly happy voice.

"Hey Yes Man, long time no see. The internal audio recorders should be active on this thing, right?" I asked.

"Yes indeedeedy! I heard every word you guys have been saying! Boy, you sure know how to get yourself into yet another situation that sounds like it was ripped out of a junkies drug induced coma! That was meant as a compliment of course."

"Yeah yeah whatever. Look you already know I'm leaving for a while so I'm going to need you to run things for a while. So with my permission you can be more assertive. Voice activation code; no gods no masters."

"Oh I love being assertive! Activating personality code now." He said as the screen went black.

Everything was silent before the 'stand by' screen appeared only for the screen to change again. Another face appeared, though rather than be a cartoonish smile it looked as if some had put up a rather detailed sketch of a human male's face, even shading along the jaw to show the man's five o'clock shadow. It was always odd seeing that digital icon up on the screen or a securitron's monitor. It seemed unnatural to have a conversation with an AI using your own face and personality as the base for its programming.

"Well nice to see you again handsome." My electronic copy said in a voice similar to mine. Shortly after taking over the Mojave I had installed a program in Yes Man that would turn him into my electronic duplicate. I had used the brain scanning equipment from House's workshop and more or less copied both my personality and memories into the mainframe. The program was used so that Yes Man could become me and rule in my stead if I were absent and would permanently take over the nation upon my eventual death. To make it even more efficient I scanned my brain biweekly to add more of my memories to the program.

"Ha ha, funny as usual." I said rolling my eyes. "Look Robo-me, I'm going to be gone for a bit to dealing with Mulan over there," I motioned towards the very much confused servant. She kept looking between Yes Man and I like we had grown half a dozen heads. "And all sorts of other crap from an old Grognak comic."

"And while you go off frolicking in some far away land playing make believe I get to deal with politics." Yes Man said with an electronic sigh. "You know part of being a ruler of an empire is you to, you know…rule? Whenever you go off on some new adventure you always stick me with the bill. Now if you'll excuse me I have to inform your governors of your absence. Have fun getting yourself killed and if you meet Abraham Lincoln, tell him he's not getting his gun back. Oh and Mulan?" He said grabbing the Servant's attention.

"Yes?" She said hesitantly.

"Please keep this idiot safe. The world would be a lot darker place without him in it."

With that the screen went dark and Yes Man was gone.

"Well, with that taken care of would guys follow me? I know the perfect place where you guys could provide back up for me."

Without missing a beat I headed towards the elevator without glancing back to see if my friends were following but I could hear the shuffling of their feet. Getting in I pressed several of the buttons in a complex order and a hidden panel popped open revealing a button to the basement. I pressed it with a few of my friends in the elevator would have to wait their turn. Oddly enough I could still feel Mulan's presence, no doubt in her spirit form.

As the elevator came to a stop the door opened to reveal the massive room containing all the large machinery that kept the Lucky 38 running. The space in the center had previously been a make shift firing range to test the upgrade for the securitrons. Now there sat a large circular pad made of a beautiful shining silver like metal. It had taken a month of constant work but the teleporter pad had been reassembled perfectly and even improved upon.

We waited a few more minutes while the others took turns coming down before I showed them all the devise in the middle of the floor. Stepping onto the pad I motioned for everyone to follow me while I saw my Servant reappear beside me with a burst of blue particles. That would take some getting used too.

"Alright everyone, all limbs are to remain in the circle at all times, no beverages or food are allowed and please enjoy the ride." I said getting an elbow to the side curtesy of Veronica. "Here we go. Teleportation activation allowed. 2-1-6 Alpha Omega Zeta."

There was a low hum and several lights started going off along the platform as the air gained a noticeable charge like right before a radstorm hit. Then there was a sound like a mix between rushing air and the sound of electricity running through a cable. My entire vision went white and my body felt weightless only to have gravity come rushing back tenfold. My feet landed on something solid while my vision started to clear.

Once I saw where I was in gave a small smile. Looking down through the glass floor was still one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen. The was Earth, floating thousands of miles below my feet hanging in the void of space.

I turned to face my friends when I head several gasps of shock and mutterings of going crazy.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard the N.W.E.S. Zeta."

…

 **The Zeta, Hua Mulan**

I had seen much in my time. I had seen both wonders and horrors during my life almost eighteen hundred years ago. Yet never would I have imagined to be standing above the world like the gods themselves.

Then again things had been strange from the moment I was summoned.

The Grail granted much knowledge of the modern era upon my summoning. It gave the knowledge of the English language, where in the world I was and what had been happening on the planet for the last eighteen centuries. It horrified me beyond measure.

At first the knowledge of how far humanity had come was inspiring, that is if the knowledge that those technologies had been used for war didn't sour that feeling. Then there was not one, but two world wars, eclipsing all the battles I had seen or heard of with its sheer brutality and body counts. Then came the cold war between the 'communists' and 'capitalists.' It seemed wrong for the people of the world to forever be scared of a doomsday courtesy of these 'nukes'. The bombs seemed to have the power and might of only the most powerful of magics, being able to wipe out an entire city like a child would cast aside a toy.

It disgusted me to know that their paranoia was well founded. One day the world burned in nuclear fire and just like that humanity had become an endangered species with the earth barely surviving the onslaught. That had been two hundred years ago and both the world and humanity were still recovering. It hurt to know that my home, the Empire I had fought for would become one of the biggest reasons for this 'Great War' as it was called. Now I had been summoned to this city New Vegas in the former nation of 'America', where the devastation had been most severe.

The rules of this war had been ingrained into my mind and that it would be a Magus who had summoned me. I had hadn't liked that at all. In life I had met a few magi in life and none of them were what one would call a pleasant experience. At best they were arrogant and eccentric, at worst they were complete monsters unworthy of the powers they had been blessed with. It was a pleasant surprise to see that my Master seemed to be a pleasant man even if he could be a bit annoying.

This James Cooper was unique. He was fairly attractive for a white man, extremely exotic compared to the usual people I had dealt with. Then again everything I had seen could be considered exotic, including the people themselves. Upon my summoning I knew that that tall black garbed man had been a Servant, and one who had been trying to kill my Master before my arrival. The coward may have ran but at least James was safe, or so I had thought. His wounds looked severe and deep, yet he seemed unconcerned with the injuries that would have left most in horrible pain. He had taken me to that tower of light called the Lucky 38. It had been a magnificent sight to see all those buildings just overfilling with light, music, and cheer. I had entertained the idea of exploring those 'Casinos' but James had reminded me of his need for answers.

Meeting his friends and companions had been an experience as well. They seemed to come from all walks of life and several of them were not even human. Some looked like a rotting corpse while others were beasts of pure muscle that looked as if they could rip a man in half like it were nothing. There were even a few of those golem like machines and a hound that was half metal.

When explanation had come they had of course been skeptical at first but Master had assured them of the truth and they had accepted it whole heartedly then. My Master seemed too have their complete trust, yet that was not all. It seems James Cooper was in fact not a magus, but was also the Kahn of these lands. This New World Empire was his to command yet he let his friends and subjects speak to and insult him as if he were an old friend. Now here I was on some massive ship hanging above the world, in a room that had several piles of junk lying against the walls. Truly my Master was an interesting one.

"Alright everyone, this is the former alien ship that abducted me a decade ago. Now obviously there are of course no more aliens on this vessel as the hostile ones were all killed during my little rebellion and all the workers died from food poisoning. I honestly was not aware that Nuka Cola was poisonous to them." Master said to his friends, most of who were still slack jawed at the view below their feet. I couldn't help but chuckle at their expressions.

"Well damn, I honestly thought that story was just some bad trip. I take back my mutterings said behind your back." The one with the dark glasses and oddly plain looking face said.

"Yeah well I almost wish it was Deacon. Anyways my other friend should be here soon so…"

There was a whoosh of energy and light at one end of the room where a woman had just emerged from. She was a pretty thing with a bright smile, beautiful eyes and short yellowish hair. Her manner of dress (or lack thereof) was odd. It consisted of extremely short blue garments on her lower half while she wore a white shirt with image of a man wearing red and yellow suit with a glass orb on his head. The clothes themselves really didn't leave much to the imagination as more flesh was exposed than wasn't and her shirt emphasized her… uh womanly figure.

She made a beeline for James and I briefly thought of striking her down before she could get within stabbing range but I stayed my blade when I saw my Master's smile as he laid eyes on the young woman. She came to a stop in front of him while giving him some form of salute as she put her hand up too her eyebrow.

"First mate Sally reporting for duty Captain!" She said excitedly.

"Good to see you too Sally. Look I'm in a bit of a rush so would you mind showing my friends around? I'll be out and about and I would like them to beam down at a moments notice if I need help. Can you do that for me?"

"Aye aye Captain!" She said before turning around, putting two fingers in her mouth and letting out a loud whistle. Suddenly there came several dozen clicks of some things light yet hard hitting metal as several storage crates popped open out came several dozen small green…lizards? I could feel the grail sending information into my mind, yet it made no sense as it was telling me that strange things were both robots and…toys?

The little things marched up in front of Sally to form a perfect line. Almost as if they were waiting for orders.

"Seriously?" The woman wearing the brown rags with a large metallic glove on her right hand said to James. "This is what you been doing with the T-rex souvenirs? One robot army wasn't enough so you decided to make one of nothing but Dinky's?"

"Yes Veronica, I built my own robot army but not for fighting. I made these little guys to maintain the Zeta. All the old alien workers died of Nuka exposure there was no one left to actually keep the thing running. Since I couldn't just let the ship fall apart I created these guys to keep it together. Also only one of these is Dinky, isn't that right buddy?"

He kneeled down in front of one the little toys and now that I was looking, I could see that they all had different colored dots painted on their bellies. This one had a dark blue spot. Sticking his hand out, palm facing the toy, the little green lizard took its miniscule arm and slapped my Master's hand in what I somehow knew was a mock 'high five'.

It was actually quite adorable.

"Yeah you are. Anyways this is Dinky, the one in charge while I'm gone and he keeps the boat together. That's Binky, Tinky, Winky, Stinky, Kinky and the one currently chewing on Strong's foot is Reptar." He said gesturing to the ones with the yellow, white, orange, green and pink dots. The last one however was indeed chewing on the green behemoths foot as the super mutant tried to shake the thing off. This one was different however as it didn't have a dot on his belly but had blue spines running down its back instead of white.

"Now if would all excuse me I need to get ready." With that he summoned a strange looking contraption before walking over an wrapping an arm around me. I felt the blood rush to my face in an instant. "Oh and don't touch the deathray!"

Before I could so much as open my mouth to protest, I felt a rush of energy similar to when I went ethereal only It happened without my control. Suddenly I was no longer standing above the world but rather looking out upon a rocky landscape through an odd blue energy field. I could see we were on a metal balcony and if the knowledge from the Throne was correct I was somewhere further north than Vegas but still not out of the Mojave.

"What was that?" I asked pushing my master away from me who had a rather smug looking grin.

"Transportalponder. It just teleported us to a place called Big Mountain. This'll be the last stop before we head out alright? Now I just need to head in, grab a few things. Now if you'll follow me…"

Following James through the strange self opening doors we were met with a cacophony of greetings yet I found no one around. No doubt more of those strange machines again. Master pulled me aside and pointed me towards another door.

"Alright Mulan, I'm going need you to head through there alright? There are some…scientists…who would very much like to meet you." He said with a grin while just gave him a confused look.

"Master why would we care about meeting these scientists of yours?"

"Because despite their…eccentricities…these were and still are some of the most brilliant minds alive. If the other Servants are truly like you then studying you might reveal previously unknown weaknesses to exploit. Who knows what could be learned. Just make sure they don't get carried away. Just find doctor Six you'll be fine." He said with a smile that screamed that he was hiding something from me before walking.

"Yes Master." I said with a sigh. I hated it when others tried to surprise me, as in my experience few surprises were rarely good ones.

Stepping through the strange door I was greeted by a rampaging leading upwards. If there was one thing that continues to surprise me is just how much of the world was made odd steel and metal. I remember when we'll crafted metal was used solely for weapons and tools, yet there seems to be entire buildings crafted from the unyielding material.

Climbing up the slope I stopped in my tracks when I saw what was waiting for me. It was a monstrosity of metal, glass, screens and what looked like a human brain. It floated in the air with three black and white screens showing two humans eyes and a mouth in some twisted mockery of a human face. The brain was sitting there in some orange looking liquid.

"Oh good you're finally here." It said in an odd yet superior sounding voice. "Its about time that imbecile of a flesh bag stop by. You can call me Dr. Six now if you would be so kind as to-"

"Demon!" I screamed unsheathed my blade.

…

 **James**

I smiled to myself as I heard the Servant's scream. I just knew the residents of the Think Tank would give her a start though I knew Six would be able to calm her down.

Six was another creation of mine. Using the equipment I scavenged from Vault 108 to clone a blank copy of my brain. Then I managed to upload my personality using a similar method to Yes Man, though the outcome was a personality similar to when my brain was lobotomized and stuck in the Forbidden Zone. Thankfully he still had my morals and would keep the other Brains in check long after I was gone. The last thing the world needs is for those lunatics to have free rein and no supervision.

Walking up to the Sink Central Intelligence Unit it greeted me with a quick hello sir. "Workshop access."

"Right away sir." It responded. Another flash of light enveloped me again and I was standing still good sized workshop filled with advanced machinery and countless number of weapons of all shapes and sizes hanging from the walls. This was my work shop, several miles below Big Mountain and away from any prying eyes. It was not only my private place to build and tinker but also a place to store my vast armory where no lucky thief could break in and get their hands on volatile tech and weapons they have no business handling.

Walking over towards the steel workbench I plucked a holotape off the smooth surface and plugging it into my pipboy. The screen flickered several times before stabilizing. I idly turned to the weapons inventory screen and smiled to myself as the formerly small list of weapons was a sprawling screen of tools of war. I selected Vance's SMG and saw it disappear from the wall on my right in a flash only to appear in my hand. Another click and it's weight disappeared and appears back on my wall.

It was good to know my experimental transporter was a success. I only wished I could have ran more tests before I was forced to use it in the field but if my instincts were right (as they usually are) then I was going to need unimpeded access to all of my equipment.

This of course was only half the reason for coming here.

If all my years of Reading Grognak comics had taught me any it was that magic was bullshit. In all the stories the wizards were all extremely powerful fighters who could wipe out warriors easily but we're ultimately just as vulnerable as any other human. Magical beings like say a Heroic Spirit were another matter. Those things were always shown to be nigh unstoppable and could only be killed by some random magical artifact. Now Assassin was both stronger and faster than me yet I cut him and that pain and rage he showed when I shot him was genuine. Bullets hurt him but I didn't know if I could kill him.

There was one thing I that most likely could though.

Walking over to the back wall with numerous melee weapons to choose from one cautious my eye and I went to grab it's cloth wrapped wooden handle. It was a two foot long steel blade whose shape was a twist and mangled looking thing with edges that were sharper than a razor no matter how much it was used. It may have been steel but the radiocarbon dating I had put the thing through put it at be well over five thousand years old, older than civilization. More than anything to stand out about it was how the weapon just seemed to emanate a dark malice. Honestly I had little doubt that Kremvh's Tooth wasn't arcane in nature.

Even as I had the thing I felt an uneasy but familiar feeling of anticipation. I sometimes wondered if the thing may have been alive and actually looked forward to being used. It was also the only object my Pipboy couldn't atomize and thus I had to carry myself if I ever used the thing.

Running a thumb over its dark metal I could almost imagine it…purring.

Shaking my head I dispelled those thoughts.

"Alright blade, your going to help me. I'm heading off to Japan and I'm going to be facing magi in a companion to the death with heroes from myth and legend to win the Holy Grail…Now that I say that loud I sound insane. Anyways I'm going to need help killing them and that's where you come in.

It's a simple transaction. I use you to kill the things and you get to bath in the blood of my fallen foes. Like I said, simple. Now I'm going to go get ready to head out in a few hours so tell me…do we have a deal?"

 **...**

 **Now we get to the real bits next time. Also who saw that Kremvh's Tooth making an appearance? Honestly the thing is creepy as hell but it is one of the few things truly magical and arcane objects in Fallout and is hinted at to have been used in religious wars before the first civilization. Therefore it leaves little doubt that it could kill Servants**

 **That is all for now bye!**


	3. New Rules, Old Game

**I originally wanted to post this the twenty third but what can you do.**

 **…**

 **Chapter 3: New Rules, Old Game**

 **Lucky 38, Zelretch**

Taking a deep breath I took a minute to enjoy the sour irradiated air. It was always a pleasant surprise when I discovered world such as this one where humans had no right to live in such a hostile environment, let alone a hostile world, yet managed to survive anyway.

Looking out upon the lights of Vegas was still remarkable even if I had seen much grander things, though the view from the roof was an excellent place to sightsee. The loaded pistol to the back of my head detracted somewhat from my enjoyment though.

"Been too long since we last meet a' old pal?" I said glancing back at the man threatening me. Though his gender was the only thing I could be sure of.

He was a man of average height and a somewhat soft looking face with chiseled features that looked absolutely friendly and menacing to all who saw him. His skin was that of a tanned Caucasian, or maybe a lighter skinned Hispanic, maybe even Asian. His eyes were a diamond soft dark brown, maybe a lighter gray? His clothes were simultaneously pristine and dirty though he always seemed to be wearing a fedora and trench coat that might be beige. Overall he was remarkably unremarkable. That is except for the beautiful silver 44. Revolver he had pointing at my head.

"Come on Stranger I just wanted to pop in and say hello. There's no need to get all snippy with me."

"You're not supposed to be here Zelretch. This world is outside of your territory." He said in a high pitched baritone.

"Wrong-o, this one is on the fringe even if barely. This is a Crossover world after all." The statement caused Stranger to scowl and lower his weapon, if only slightly.

The Kaleidoscope was a hell of a thing, allowing me access to a countless number of worlds and realities and no ordinary mind could truly comprehend it's complexity and enormity. However access to countless worlds does not mean access to all of them. No, the universes I traversed were merely the territory I had the best connection to in the ocean of the cosmic infinite. Unfortunately the other entities outside my influence didn't particularly like nosy neighbors like me. Even Gaia's and Alaya's influence was limited.

However there are sometimes exceptions to an entities circle of influence.

The realities I visited and were within my reach I had dubbed Fate had touched another territory, one I had dubbed Fallout. Whenever one multiverse touched another two possible reality from each multiverse would combine to form a single universe where the histories, physics, magic, technology and possibilities would mix. These were called Crossover Events and the connection allowed entities from both sides to visit and interact. Thus that meant I had just as much right to be on this world as Stranger does and I let him know it by flashing him my smuggy-ist smile.

"Now would you kindly put away that gun say we can have a little chat ey'?"

With a sigh he put away his pistol. "We have little to talk about. This world may be a Crossover but if you believe I will let you meddle-"

I waved him off while giving him an annoyed huff. "No no you misunderstand. I know you don't like others stepping on your turf, but I can assure you I have come to watch and nothing more." I gave him my most honest smile, which was much harder than it sounds.

"To watch?" He said raising a dark brown or maybe black eyebrow at me.

"Yes to watch. Do you know how many Grail wars I've seen? Countless, yet not one has taken place in an irradiated wasteland on a nuked world. Do you know how unique that is? Oh of course you do but the point remains, I'm interested to see what happens. I mean this version of the fifth war is some two hundred and fifty years late with no sign of Emiya anywhere."

Stranger looked still looked unconvinced. "And yet you never bothered to witness the other four?"

I rolled my eyes. "The other four were much the same as the ones on my terf, save for the forth having access to different technology and the consequences of its outcome."

It was of course true as the previous wars and history were mostly the same as my worlds, that is up until the invention of the transistor. In this world the Magus Association deliberately sabotaged the advancement of technology in hopes of slowing the decline of magic. Thus the transistor wasn't invented until much later and technology was vastly different with different choices made and different events happening. Such as a nuclear holocaust.

Then came the forth Grail War, where Kiritsugu still ordered Saber to destroy the Grail controlled by Angra Mainyu. However instead of destroying the corrupted grail for ten years, the energy instead reset the grail and though it took nearly three hundred years to do so, it purged the Avenger class Servant from itself and only recently reappeared. Of course that leads me to now.

"So, this James Cooper seems interesting. You know him better than I do. Does he stand a chance against the other Masters and Servants?"

The trench coated man nodded. "Most certainly. James is a man of adamantine will, if any where to win the Grail than it would be him. Although…" He trailed.

"His opponents aren't just some shut in magi more interested in studying rather than living life I'm guessing?" I guessed. Having dangerous Masters as well as dangerous Servants always made it interesting.

"No. In fact all the current Masters have garnered reputations and have cemented their places on the Throne upon their deaths. Some through very monstrous means."

I let out a chuckle at the news. "Well now, isn't that interesting? Now enough talk. Where can I get some good popcorn around here?"

…

 **Pacific Ocean, James**

"Ow!"

"That's what you get for cheating."

Rubbing my head I sent a glare at Mulan who was doing her best impersonation of the Cheshire cat. She sat across from me as we played a game of Blackjack with ED-E as the dealer. It had not been going well.

"Saber! Same side! Ally not enemy!"

"Oh, sorry. I forgot the rules." She said sheepishly. ED-E just bobbed up in down in the air beeping in the robots version of laughter.

"If you're done screwing up the easiest game to exist you'd best get ready. We'll be arriving at Fuyuki in a few minutes." An old woman's voice called from my right.

Sending ED-E a glare before cleaning up the cards, I stood up to stretch by limbs in the somewhat cramped interior of the vertibird. It had been several days of non stop flying to get to Fuyuki, but it seemed to have been worth the effort. It also helped that it had been Daisy Whitman behind the controls. The former Enclave pilot never seemed to need to rest while she was flying through the skies.

Helping Mulan to her feet I then walked over towards door of the flying machine and opened it to reveal the beautiful blue waters of the pacific ocean.

"It truly is magnificent isn't it?" I heard my Servant say from behind me. Glancing back I smiled faintly as I her hair blew in the wind. It seemed to frame her face perfectly and made her look like the gorgeous hero of legend I knew her to be. Even the scar over her eye only seemed to add to the image rather than detract.

It had taken some digging through the history archives in the Big Mountain, but I had found Mulan's legend. It was surprisingly…bare bones.

The legend started with her as a dutiful daughter to her family only to have China's emperor raise an army to defend the land from invading marauders and her aging veteran of a father was drafted. Rather than have him die at war due to his age, she disguised herself as a man and took his place. She went off to war and…that's it. No real explanation or description for what happened while away at war, but she eventually returned home some ten or so years later and she just goes on to live her life. Her old war buddies didn't even figure out he was a she until they went to go visit her at her parents house for a celebratory feast. There were plays and stories made about her adventures later on except those were made decades after her first documented story and thus subject to inaccuracies and embellishments.

Honestly the only real way to get her story would be to ask her directly, but that could wait for another time. Looking to the south I saw the broken but still beautiful husk that was Fuyuki City.

Japan before the Great War was a steadfast ally to America and had been ever since the end of the second world war. After America helped to rebuild Japan when the fighting ended, Japan had become America's greatest asset on the Asian continent. When the cold war started up, more and more American military forces were stationed here to monitor the ever growing threat that was China. This in turn had the Imperialistic Japanese people becoming more and more influenced by the western culture while still keeping some of their own traditions. Of course Japan eventually became the staging grounds for the invasion of China during the Sino-American war.

Fuyuki however was on the northern side of the Island of Kyushu and had little strategic importance. Looking at it now I could see that the lack of major military assets helped spare the city the worst of the apocalypse, looking more like the ruined cityscape of Boston rather than the blasted rubble of the Capital Wasteland. I could see several skyscrapers that looked to be in fairly good shape along the river that split the city in half. In the far south I could even make out what looked to be an honest to God forest, though the leaves seemed to be a particular unnatural shade of red rather than the green they should have been. Overall the city looked to be a decent enough place from where we were flying.

I made our way towards the dock yards though I had Daisy stop about a quarter mile away while we were still over the water.

"Why are we stopping here?!" Mulan screamed over the sound of the engines.

"Vertibirds are big attention grabbers! If the other Masters are already here than the last thing I need is them knowing I've just arrived!"

"Then how are we going to get to land?!"

I gave her a smirk and mock salute before stepping out into the aether.

Falling towards the blue ocean from several thousand feet while the wind whistled past your ears, I can safely say that it was one hell of a thrill ride one hell of a thrill ride.

 _ **"Are you insane!"**_ I heard Mulan's voice scream inside my head.

 _No. Well, maybe a little. Besides I'll be fine I have a plan._

 ** _"I don't think going splat counts as a plan."_**

 _No, but this does._

The water was coming at me startlingly fast, but I kept myself calm. Tapping my pipboy I activated a preset selection for quick access and suddenly I was briefly covered in light. The wind disappeared, my body felt smothered and my vision was filled with several electronic displays. The T-60 power armor may not have been the most advanced or the most powerful set of armor out there, but it did have numerous options for modifications. One such modification was the addition of a massive jet pack capable of lifting half a ton of steel power armor into the air, or in this case, slow it's decent.

The flames shot out of the pack and I felt my body decelerate slightly, just enough to make my splashdown more comfortable. The blue sky disappeared and was replaced by dirty blue water. A shutter went though me as I landed on the bottom the ocean. I couldn't see a foot in front of this far enough down, though thankfully my headlamp came on to illuminate my path.

 _Told you I had a plan._

" _ **Fine, whatever you say**_ " She said with obvious annoyance.

I smiled to myself as I activated my helmets radio. "Daisy, do you read me? I have landed safe and sound. Over."

"Glad to hear it sweetheart. You had me worried there for a minute. Now I would wish you luck, but we both know how finicky it is when it comes to you. Now I'll be heading back home but I'll come pick you up after this business is done. Just watch your back, okay? Over."

"Don't worry you'll be back here before you know it. Oh and you can tell ED-E he can teleport back to the Zeta now. You have a safe trip back Daisy. Over and out." I shut off the radio.

Using the built in compass in my helmet, I turned to the south and started walking. It was time to get to work.

…

Some half an hour of walking later, the water got more and more shallow to the point where I didn't need to use my head lamp to see anymore. When I eventually came upon a concrete wall I knew I had made it to land, or more specifically the harbor.

The concrete wasn't the most sturdy of material when constantly exposed to seawater for two hundred years without maintenance. Pulling my arm back, I struck with all the pneumatic power available and the metallic finger found purchase easily. Then I did it with the other arm only higher, repeating the actions until I had pulled myself eventually out of the water. Reaching up towards the top when a delicate looking hand was reaching out with a smiling Mulan looking down at me. Grabbing the offered hand, she pulled me up with unnatural strength. It was hard to imagine such a small frame had the strength equivalent of a super mutant overlord. One of the tests the Think Tank ran was examining her biology and not a thing was out of place and for all intents and purposes she looked human on both the outside and inside. Then again, magic.

Once I was up I teleported my power armor away for the sake of discretion and saw that the harbor was exactly as I would have pictured it. Rusty shipping containers were scattered about with the remains of their content spilling out. A few unusable Machesney such as cranes and forklifts were in disrepair with even a few industrial grade protections lying in broken heaps. The few dilapidated storehouses looked as if all it would take to knock them down would was a particularly strong breeze.

I was about to take a step forward when the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I palmed the handle of the weathered but reliable ten millimeter pistol on my hip. I had the weapon by my side since taking my first steps into the wastes. It's familiarity gave me comfort and helped steady my mind in situations like this, knowing I was about to walk into an ambush.

"Saber, can you tell where our would-be ambushers are hiding?" I glanced at her and though she looked calm, she rested her hand on the handle of her sword.

"I'm sensing some twenty individuals, all seeming to be closing in on us from up high."

Glancing up, I could see some movement from on top of a few shipping containers, only to see some twenty men and women step into view. They were dressed in in what could optimistically called clothes, more like filthy rags with bits of leather sewn together to make some mockery of armor. Their weapons were several ruff looking assault rifles with a few double barreled shotguns and pistols. The only exceptions being an Asian woman dressed in a grey long coat with a furred collar wielding a well maintained assault rifle with a drum magazine and holographic sight. The other was a tall Caucasian man wearing what looked like a mock up of the ancient samurai only made of blood covered scrap metal. A small arms rifle was in his hands with a curved clip sticking out the side which I believed was a Type 100 and a rusty blade made to resemble a katana on his hip. Honestly if Toshiro were here he would probably have gutted the man on principle with such shoddy equipment. I wonder where that bastard went, I learned Japanese just to talk to him if we meet again, although it was paying off now anyways.

"Well Yoko, I believe I owe you an apology." The man said to the Asian woman.

"Did you doubt me Dredger? I said something landed in the ocean and looky what washes up." The woman said with a predatory grin as she looked at us.

"Yeah, a couple of walking corpses who were kind enough to bring us some good gear." He said with a similar expression.

Saber was about to draw her blade when I put a hand on her arm to stop her.

"Talk first. Bastards might be smart enough to listen to us and the last thing we need is to announce ourselves by wiping out a raider gang." I said.

"And if they don't wish to talk?" She asked.

"Then we kill them all."

Stepping forward I gave the surrounding raiders my most winning smile while trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. It wasn't that hard, all I had on me was a 10mm pistol, an eldritch blade on my back, boots, jeans, white dress shirt with rolled up sleeves and a ballistic vest. Then again that was all I needed for these kinds marauders as they mostly relied on brutality rather than actual skill.

"Well hello there, Dredger, was it? As you can see my lady friend and I just arrived and rather lack the proper lay out of the land. If this is your tuff then let me say we are both terribly sorry for intruding. Now you have us out numbered but that doesn't mean we can't take a few of you with us. No in fact it would be extremely beneficial for everyone if you were to let us go unmolested." The dark chuckle I heard from a few of the men did not instill me with hope of getting out without a fight but I continued anyway.

"In fact if you were to give us information on the surrounding area I would pay you well. I have plenty of Caps if-"

"The fucks a Cap?" Yoko interrupted.

I grimaced slightly. I had been afraid of that. It was possible that with America's influence before the war might push the residents here into using bottle caps as currency, but it seems that was not the case. That meant my vast fortune was useless here.

"Uh…what exactly do you use for currency here?" I asked somewhat sheepishly.

"What? We use Bits dumbass!" Dredger growled out. "Don't matter anyways. The boss wanted us to keep an eye out for gaijin like you." On some unseen signal they all readied their weapons while I heard Saber pull out her blade. Glancing at the various weapons pointed at me one caught my eye and I had to force back a smile.

"Yeah you see, the big man wants all his boys to look out for some foreign fucks coming to town and to especially keep an eye out for ones dressed up all funny, like your friend over there. Now he wanted us to report to him, but seeing as how you stupid fucks probably don't have a kill between you I think I'll save the boss some trouble and-"

That's as far as he got before I had heard enough. The world seemed to slow down while I was moving normally. My arm moved with mechanical precision, grabbing my weapon and aiming at Dredger's Chest WITH WHAT I KNOW Was pinpoint accuracy. VATS really was an amazing experience, having the pipboy flood my system with electricity to speed up the mind's processing power and controlling the body's movement speed and accuracy with weapons to the point of unnatural skill. With that power at my call I sent a round into his chest plate, not enough to really harm but surprise him, and another into the crook of his left elbow which rendered the arm useless. Without missing a beat I shifted targets to the man on the far right who was near two other raiders. I finally let my smile show as I put a round through the man's right hand. This had the duel effect of shattering the molotov cocktail that he had in his right hand and forcing him to drop the little lighter in his left. Whatever flammable liquid that was in the bottle splashed onto the ground, the wielder and the two raiders near him. Once the lighter hit the ground, the three raiders were engulfed in hungry flames. Next came the agonized screams. I always hated that, it really grated on the ears.

The world sped back up and it suddenly exploded into action. Weapons fired bullets sped through the air. I saw a black and red figure blur past me and leap into the air with supernatural grace. Saber was upon the man furthest to the left in an instant, her sword flashed and the man was on the ground trying desperately to pull his lower half back together with his other upper. Undaunted by the dying man at her feet, Saber leaned to the side to avoid a burst of gunfire from a female raider in front of her. Suddenly her sword was in the woman's chest with the tip bursting out her back.

Turning away from the Servant, I rolled to my right to avoid the swing of a heavy pipe. I raised my pistol and put a bullet through my attacker's head. Glancing towards the shipping containers and saw a make shift ramp going up the side.

Wanting to get to higher ground, I ran up the ramp, the occasional bullet strike the ground near me. Going up the ramp I nearly ran into a dirty man with a double barreled shotgun. I slapped the barrel away with my empty hand just as he pulled the trigger. The odd recoil made him stumble and hesitate, which left me plenty of time to shoot him in the thigh, right where his femoral artery would be. I left the man on the ramp screaming, it wouldn't matter in a few minutes once he bled out.

Reaching the top, I went unnoticed as all the raiders still alive were all focused on Saber who was tearing apart the raiders on the left as if they were mole rats taking on a Deathclaw. She even threw her sword at a man on my side managed to clip her side with his junky slapped together weapon. It was odd to me that Servants were fast enough to dodge and block the faster than sound death dealers that were bullets, to them it moved at the speed of a particularly fast punch. However, I had learned that no matter how experienced you were you couldn't dodge every hit and if you had enough guns pointed at them it was only a matter of time before one got lucky. Thankfully her armor was magical and strong enough to take the hit but it still made me worry. Although I must say she was a force to be reckoned with even without her blade. Weaving in and out delivering devastating punches and kicks that shattered bone and ended lives.

Take the opportunity, I snuck up behind a shorter man, I swung the pistol and struck the raider in his right temple and he collapsed with the sound of cracking bone. The man in front felt the body hit the floor and turned around just in time to receive a powerful kick to the chest that I knew broke his ribcage and flew off the container.

The three remains raiders on my side turned around and I felt a few small rounds impact my vest but otherwise did nothing other than run out of ammunition. The man on the left died by a bullet tearing into his throat and the one on the right received two metal slugs to the chest.

The last one standing near me was of course Dredger, who was in the middle of hopeless attempt to reload his weapon while limited to only one working arm. Seeing that he was getting nowhere, he dropped his gun, pulled out his junk katana with his usable hand rushed towards me with the intent to run me through.

With an annoyed sigh I put my last two bullets through his kneecaps.

Ejecting the pistol's magazine I put in a new one and turned to put down any other raiders in sight. I paused as I saw Saber being fired upon by the still living Yoko, though she was dodging all the bullets with a fluid grace and it was fairly easy for her since everyone else was dead. There didn't seem to be any urgency in her movements and despite the dodging she didn't seem to be any rush to kill the female raider.

"Saber! What are you doing?" I yelled.

"I'm practicing!" She said leaping over a burst of gunfire. "If guns are as common as you say they are it's best I get some experience with them!" A bullet screamed towards her head only to hit air as she ducked under it.

"Well hurry up! I need to interrogate Dredger here and screaming over gunfire would be annoying!"

I saw rather than herd her sigh. "Yes master."

Side stepping another bullet, Saber rushed forward in a blur of motion. Yoko only had a moment to look surprised as the Servant stuck her in the face with a palm strike. Her nasal bone shattered and I'm guessing that it remains were shoved backwards and into the raiders brain. She stood still for a moment before collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut.

Turning back to Dredger, I saw that he was something five feet away from where he had fallen, trying to drag himself away. It was a shame he had crawled closer towards where Saber's sword had impaled a raider. Walking over, I put away my pistol and wrenched the blade out of its victim. The sword was a masterpiece on closer inspection. It felt light enough to easily swing all day yet heavy enough to really put some force behind the strikes. However even if this was the sword of a Heroic Spirit but other than its quality I didn't see anything special about it. It was no Excalibur or Ascalon but then again there wasn't anything special about Mulan either. She was no demigod, no royalty and no prophecy to save the land. She was just regular girl with an ordinary sword with a desire save her nation and protect her father. Now she's on the Throne of Heroes.

I kicked Dredger in the side so that he was facing upwards, and his eyes crossed looking at the tip of the blade near his nose.

"Alright Dredger, let's chat. You see you said earlier that your boss wanted you to be on the look out for people like me. I can guess as to the why but just who is your boss? Now answer my questions and this'll be easy, but you jerk me around and I start cutting." I emphasized my point buy putting the sword tip on his cheek with enough pressure to draw blood.

He sent me what I guess was supposed to be a scathing glare but the effect was dulled by the obvious fear in his eyes.

"The boss? Well I guess I can tell you but it wont matter in the end, you're already fucked. You thing the big man is gonna let you kill his boys and get away with it?"

I narrowed my eyes at him then promptly stabbed the sword into his already ruined arm eliciting a scream from the raider.

"You didn't answer my question. However since we're already on the subject, who are you people? At first I thought you were just some small time raider gang, but now I'm thing your not so small if twenty men can be sent to guard the relatively pick clean ship yards. So who are you people?"

Some of his previous bravado came back as he smirked up at me. "Bitch, we're the Red Dogs. The biggest Yakuza gang in the city, and pretty soon every one of my brothers are going to be gunning for your and the ladies heads. As for the boss? Well you better wish my buddies kill nice and quick because the Bloodhound sure as fuck won't."

"Bloodhound? Your boss I assume." I prodded him with the blade but less to cause any real pain and more to inspire fear.

"Damn straight. The bastard may be a gaijin like you but he's one mean son of a whore. Comes into town some two years ago and now everyone knows his name." He spat. "We all learned not to fuck with Robert Shelby."

That word again, gaijin. I believe it meant foreigner or outsider. So this Bloodhound wasn't a local but he still ran this Yakuza with an iron fist. That meant he more than earned his position, no one gets that kind of power without making a few corpses.

"What can you tell me about this Robert Shelby then?"

"The fuck is sadistic bastard, I'll tell you that. You cross him and the next thing you know you're in his personal hell the Chop Shop. You'd be lucky if he just rips out your guts and makes you eat them. He's dangerous, hell I once him slit a man's throat from five feet away. Just flicked that knife of his then Saige was sporting a new hole in his neck. We all knew not to screw with him and now it's even worse with his new buddy roaming around."

"New buddy?" I asked but I had a feeling I knew what this 'buddy' was.

"Some scary bastard who's just as big of a psycho as the boss. The boss wants someone dead and the new guy does the deed within the hour. Don't know his name though, all I ever heard him called was his job title. Assassin. I mean who names themselves after their job!?" He complained.

I took a breath to quell my anger at that last remark, trying to not take it personally. I mean Courier was as good a name as any right?

"This Assassin a tall skinny guy dressed all in black and purple? Big curved knife and likes to use it? Just seems to appear out of thin air?" I asked.

"Yeah? How the fuck you know him?" He said perplexed.

"We've meet. Now is there anything else you can tell me, maybe about the city or are we done here?"

He sat there in silence obviously trying to think of something. He obviously knew that the moment he was done with info he was useless and he didn't know what I would do then. He was also stalling for time so I wouldn't notice him inching his good hand towards his fallen sword. I decided to let him think I hadn't noticed. "Yeah there are a few other gangs around town like the Blades. They're a bunch of sword wielding assholes based out of an old temple to the south west. Then there's the Fujimura Clan who control the shin to district and everything east of the Mion river, or at least every thing not swarming with beasts."

"What about the contested areas? Any place in could maybe set up shop?" I asked and ignore the fact his fingers were touching the sword's hilt.

"Along the river. Both sides of the river are constantly fought over between us, the Fujimura and any other bastards that want to carve out their own piece of land. As for a base it's all mostly been picked clean and settled but there is the High-rise. Tallest building in the city, mostly intact and never scavenged, though for good reason. Apparently the place was the personal property, home, office and workshop of some old world bigshot. The place is full of security systems from before the war. You know, the robot kind that tend to pulp in sap dumb enough to get close." His fingers were curling around the dirty leather grip.

His force morphed into a angry sneer as he threw himself forward with all his might. Adrenaline dulling the agony of his ruined knees and arm. His sword swung with he pent up aggression with the hopes of cutting me down with his 'surprise' attack.

All it took was a flick of my wrist to separate his head from his shoulders.

The fresh body flopped to the ground with a wet thud as the blood began to pool around the remains of his neck. Reaching down I cleaned the blade of blood with the worn but relatively clean clothes of what was once Dredger. Standing back up I turned around to see Mulan standing there with a raised eyebrow.

"Your sword my lady." I gave a mock bow as I presented her the cleaned steel blade.

Tentatively grabbed the sword while sending me an odd look as she put it away. She kept glancing back between me and the body behind me.

"You knew he was going to attack and you let him. Why?"

I gave a little shrug. "He was wounded, in pain and afraid for his life. Not only that but he was desperate enough to stall for time and hopefully kill me. I knew all that and I let him do it because couldn't focus on getting his sword and come up with false information. His mind immediately went to the things he knew were true to stall me."

She was silent for a moment before nodding her head. "Well thought out. I approve Master." She flashed me a smile and gave a small bow. That when I saw something silver on her back.

"Mulan…why do you have the assault rifle?" I asked.

She glanced over her shoulder before shrugging. "Its new weapon. My father always stressed the importance of learning to handle all different types of weapons. A sword can only get one so far after all."

"And you know how to handle a firearm? Also what else can you use?"

"I can learn and I know how to wield a sword, spear, lances, bows and my fists if the need arises. I can also do it on horseback if need to. Like I said my father wanted me to be able to protect myself, so he taught me everything he knew. Saved my life a hundred times over."

She giggled at my slightly slack jawed expression. I knew she was skilled, but damn.

Although she did unintentionally bring to mind another issue. She had scavenged Yoko's weapon and a rifle was far more inconspicuous than her sword, which went back to what Dredger said about looking out for oddly dressed people. Even if Mulan's armor was excellent for fighting it stood out like a tree in a desert.

"We need to get you a change of clothes." I said getting a confused look from the heroic spirit. "If we want to blend in, we need you to dress the part."

The problem was finding a clothes that were not only in decent condition but was also on hand. Mulan was tall for a woman and the only clothes on hand were the trash worn by the raiders. Although…

I glanced between Mulan and the collapsed form of Yoko. Her coat was in great condition and the rest of her gear looked about the right size.

Mulan saw my glances and it didn't take long for her to put two and two together.

"No. Mei men er! Not happening! I am not wearing some dead woman's clothes!"

…

I grinned as Mulan pulled at her new outfit.

It had turned out that that Yoko's not only fit Mulan but was also an old Chinese officer's coat with a twin red stars emblazoned on either side of the collar. You've got to appreciate the small jokes the universe throws at you.

Thankfully Mulan could materialize her armor at a moments notice so was not stuck in those old clothes if we're to get in a fight. Seeing her actually changing into the outfit been another thing altogether. I being a proper gentleman had looked away after she had done away with her preferred wardrobe…after half a minute of shameless gawking. It turns out Mulan was not only well toned and athletic but also very, very feminine. With wide hips and larger than average breasts even if they were tied down, it must have been a miracle that no one had founder out when she was alive. Although that also calls into question how she managed to hide her monthly aaand I am stopping that line of thinking immediately.

Anyways, we had also found several hundred Bits while looting the bodies for valuables. The things seemed to be the prewar Yen coins that had survived the apocalypse. About the size of a cap with a hole through the middle, the Bits were easy enough to lug around without any issues.

Working our way out of the harbor while following the river is saw the High-rise out in the distance. It was a massive light blue building that stood high above the skyline. The top of the building had a massive disk shaped floor that looked to mostly intact. On the side of the building was a large rusted sign that said Warhead Motors in front of a stylized radiation symbol.

"There it is. We set up shop in there and we're golden. From there we move on to the next objective."

"Which is?" Mulan asked from behind.

"We find this Bloodhound and put him in the ground."

…

 **South of Fuyuki, Rider**

Standing along the tree line I let my body relax among the blood red leaves. I gave a small smile as I sniffed at the wind. The smell of fresh corpses rotting in the heat, burnt gunpowder in the air and spilled blood drying in the light of the sun. Truly a glorious scent.

This city was truly a ruin, though that could apply to the entire world now. Scarred by nuclear fire, dived by rival gangs and now host to seven beings from the Throne of Heroes and their Masters. Truly the people here were fucked, especially as these Masters most likely cared not about keeping magic hidden from the world.

I sensed my own Master approach, his every foot fall seeming to shake the earth.

"First Blood has been drawn Master. By both bullet and blade if I'm not mistaken. And I do believe you will find the perpetrators most interesting."

The footsteps stopped leaving us is in silence for a moment. "Care not about who ours foes are, only where I may find them." He spoke and what should have been a casual tone but instead came out like a snarl. "All I care is how best to crush them beneath my heel. You know this Rider."

I gave small smile. "What if I were to tell you that it was none other than the King of the Wasteland?"

The silence that followed was not like the previous one. This one was filled with a tension that was laced with anger and hatred.

"He's here." It was less of a question and more of a statement.

"Yes and is the Master of the Servant of the sword." I gave the large armored man an amused glance. "What will you do with that information my dear Lanius?"

The behemoth of a man pulled out a massive rugged looking blade, the thought tip was oddly shaped as if a piece had been broken off in something or someone.

"What else would we do other than prepare for battle!" The Legate of Caesar's Legion bellowed.

 **…**

 **Yup, Lanius is here. You see if you would recall chapter 1 I had him survive Hoover dam. Now like James he hasn't been idle. He had no loyalty to the Legion only to Caesar himself. With him gone he got rid of all the things that held the Legion back and created a force to properly fight the New World Empire. Think the Caesar's New Regime mod.**

 **Now you guys go and leave me a review and have a good day.**


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